The largest margin of victory in Super Rugby is the 89 points by which the Bulls demolished the bottom-of-the-table Reds last week. That match ended 92-3, but the highest score is the Crusaders' 96 points against the second-placed Waratahs in 2002.

So the semi-final between second-placed Bulls and third-placed Crusaders is a match between teams capable of huge scores - as well as a head-on clash between the best of South African and New Zealand rugby. But will we see another try-fest this weekend? It's doubtful, as these are two teams who have the big-match experience to know the game will be close.

The round-robin game between the Bulls and Crusaders in Christchurch was anything but close.  The Kiwi side triumphed 32-10 but the scoreline doesn't tell  the full story as the Bulls rested their captain Viktor Matfield and played like a team who knew they did not need to win.

This Saturday, in a sudden-death match, victory is the only objective for both teams. The Crusaders are coming off a run of two bad games where they failed to fire an attacking shot. The return of playmaker Dan Carter will boost the their back-line, but given the recent form poor form it is hard to see even Carter turning it around.

The Bulls' recent form has been great, demolishing the Reds by a record margin, and also beating fellow semi-finalists the Blues comfortably. Their recent wins have seen fly-half Derick Hoggaard in superb form, distributing the ball well and kicking 12 goals from 13 attempts against the Reds. Winger Bryan Habana has also found form of late and can be a handful to contain.

The Crusaders showed during the round-robin that the way to beat the Bulls is to move the ball from one side of the field to the other and back again, forcing the huge South African forward pack to move much greater distances. But whether the cold Crusaders can do that to a hot Bulls team on their home ground remains to be seen.