The only fireworks the Rebels have shown this year in Super Rugby have been at run-on time.

Farcical forces are at play in Super Rugby with all five Australian teams in contention for the finals despite four of their five teams having just three wins, and the Rebels in dead last with one win.

After 12 rounds of Super Rugby, the five New Zealand teams dominate the competition table with 42 wins combined, but the conference system means an Australian team is guaranteed a spot in the finals.

That Australian place is up for grabs with five rounds of play to go and just 11 competition points separating the conference-leading Brumbies from the last-placed Rebels.

Matt King/ Getty Images Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson believes his team can make the Super Rugby finals if they can play the full 80 minutes in their remaining games.

The Crusaders sit atop the overall standings, undefeated and with 50 competition points. The Lions, Stormers and Brumbies are the other conference leaders and the Chiefs, Hurricanes, Highlanders and Sharks round out the top eight after 12 rounds.

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Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson at the weekend expressed surprise at his team's chances of still making the Super Rugby finals by surpassing the Brumbies to claim the Australian conference winner's spot.

"All the Australian conference teams would be surprised that they're still in contention, but that's the conference system where we all have an opportunity," Gibson said.

The Waratahs sit third in a congested Australian conference, with all five teams a mathematical chance of snaring a guaranteed home quarterfinal.

The Brumbies sit atop the Australian ladder on 19 points, leading the Reds (16) – who have played an extra game – the Waratahs (14), Force (13) and Rebels (8).

For context, the worst performing New Zealand team, the Blues, have 11 more competition points than the Brumbies.

The Rebels have five games remaining in the season, against the Waratahs (at Sydney), Crusaders (at Melbourne), Brumbies (at Canberra), Force (at Perth) and Jaguares (at Melbourne).

In order to overhaul the Brumbies atop the Australian conference, the Rebels would need to win three of these matches to erase the 11-point deficit and likely win their remaining two games to create a lead.

Their chance of making the finals may be largely mathematical, but it is still possible should they win the rest of their matches.

The Brumbies' remaining matches are against a mixture of good and bad opposition, the Kings (at Canberra), Jaguares (at Buenos Aires), Rebels (at Canberra), Reds (at Brisbane) and Chiefs (at Hamilton).

WARATAHS AIM FOR 80 MINUTES

Gibson has stressed his players need to focus on playing for a full 80 minutes each game if they want to remain in finals contention.

"We've had time to reflect on the last three games and where we've got to get to. With the results over the weekend, it brings everything back and everyone is a contender."

The disparity between the Waratahs' first and second halves this season has been alarming. On more occasions than not, they have trailed at the main break before rallying and getting themselves within a respectable margin of their opponents.

That was no more the case than the last time the Waratahs came up against the Melbourne Rebels – their opponents next Sunday in Sydney at Allianz Stadium.

In that game in March, the Waratahs trailed by 19 points at half-time before coming back to record a hard-fought 32-25 victory at AAMI Park.

Regardless of what has already happened this season, Gibson said all attention had to be given to ensuring the Waratahs played a premium brand of rugby for the entirety of the contest.

"The focus is really playing to our capability for the full 80 minutes," Gibson said.

"That's the strongest message around our performance. We're very competitive against New Zealand teams for periods of the game but they are more consistent over 80 minutes.

"When we put that together as a team, we're going to be pretty strong and that's the real challenge.

"We've given some teams considerable leads: the Blues, Crusaders, Hurricanes … We were giving up significant leads and then staging a pretty impressive fightback in all those games.

"The key for us is making sure we start well and play that rugby we can play for the full 80 minutes."

The Waratahs are confident winger Taqele Naiyaravoro will be available this weekend after sitting out the Blues match with a hand injury.

Meanwhile, fullback and winger Andrew Kellaway is also in the mix for selection following an incident where he broke a bone is his neck.

WARATAHS ONE GAME AT A TIME

With competition points as valuable as ever, the Waratahs can ill-afford another awful performance before a difficult two-week trip in New Zealand to face the Highlanders and Chiefs.

"We can't look further than the Rebels," Gibson said.

"The Rebels will be disappointed they didn't come away with more than they did against the Reds on Saturday."

Gibson said the Waratahs were also wary of a wounded Rebels outfit with no further clarity on their existence beyond this season.

Coach Tony McGahan said the uncertainty could continue for another six to eight weeks, a situation Gibson believes would be extremely unsettling.

"You can't help but feel for Tony and the team," Gibson said.

"It's very disappointing that they've had to deal with their off-field dramas as well and I'm sure it's affected them in some way during the year. As long as it [uncertainty] continues, I'm sure it will [play on their minds]."