5 talking points from this weekend's Super Rugby

- Results fall Crusaders' way -

Canterbury Crusaders tightened their grip at the top of the ladder despite having the weekend off, as closest rivals the Wellington Hurricanes and Golden Lions crashed to unexpected defeats.

With only two rounds remaining before the play-offs, the Crusaders sit nine points clear of the Hurricanes and 13 ahead of the Lions.

The defending champions are yet to play the Otago Highlanders and Auckland Blues but are favoured to win both, which would give them home advantage through the play-offs.

The Lions, runners up in the past two seasons, are now precariously placed in the South African conference, just three points ahead of Argentina's Jaguares who have a game in hand.

The Hurricanes, a pre-season favourite, have now lost three straight and are battling the Highlanders and Waikato Chiefs to host the fourth quarter-final.

- Jaguares are finals believers -

Improved self belief and discipline have been key factors in the dramatic improvement of Argentine outfit Jaguares this season, says coach Mario Ledesma.  

"There was a lack of confidence, we conceded too many penalties and there were yellow and sometimes red cards against us in almost every match," the former Pumas hooker admitted.

"Our defence has also improved and we concede far fewer soft tries," added Ledesma, who is being tipped to become national coach after Daniel Hourcade quit last month.

Their convincing 25-14 victory over Western Stormers in Buenos Aires was the seventh in a row and leaves Jaguares strongly positioned to reach the knockout stage for the first time.

- Brumbies fume over 'neck-roll' -

ACT Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has called for referees to clamp down on "really dangerous" deliberate neck rolls on his star Wallabies flanker David Pocock.

Pocock was at his best in a drought-breaking 24-12 win over the Wellington Hurricanes at Canberra Stadium, but was targeted by the opposition pack.

Hurricanes No.8 Gareth Evans cleaned out Pocock in the 62nd minute with a neck roll and the Wallabies back-rower needed medical attention.

After reviewing footage of the incident referee Nick Briant didn't think it warranted a yellow card and only awarded a penalty.

"The big one for me is the neck roll on Poey (Pocock), that's just dangerous, we've got one of the world's best flankers with his head over the ball and twisted in an awkward (position) and (nothing)," McKellar said.

"It's really dangerous and we’ve got to start to come down on those sorts of actions."

The win was the Brumbies' first against a New Zealand team since 2016.

- Kick out the conferences: Read -

All Blacks captain Kieran Read has called for Super Rugby's conference system to be scrapped, saying the competition format needs an overhaul.

"The competition itself has to be put into a better place," he told RadioLIVE.

"I like the idea of a full round robin where you play everyone once, but we can't continue with this conference system moving forward.

"They have to work something out before expansion. A round robin or something along those lines would be fairer for everyone and result in a better product for the fans who turn up every week."

- Yellows too much for Reds and Blues -

Super Rugby had only resumed for 20 minutes after the June Test window and the first yellow card was brandished -- by the time the Auckland Blues-Queensland Reds game was over there had been three more.

It left former All Blacks mates and now rival coaches, Brad Thorn and Tana Umaga, questioning World Rugby's hardline stance on infringements, with Thorn suggesting rugby union could take a lesson from rival code league.

Umaga, whose Blues beat Thorn's Reds 39-16, appealed for refereeing consistency.

"We need to get clarity. I'm sure Thorny will be looking to get clarity around the reasons why too. As everyone says, the magic word is consistency," he said.

Former league and union international Thorn believed the rash of cards, which also caused controversy during the Test season, was slowing play and hurting the game.

"There's a lot of things in rugby that are interesting. Even the knock-down rules, it's often a yellow card. In league you just get on with it. Bad pass, pack a scrum, get on with it," he said.