It was expected that the Australians would want to rest only a few players, especially veterans such as Stephen Larkham and George Gregan, as they are seen as key to Australia's World Cup chances.

The 22 players named were: Jerry Collins, Jason Eaton, Carl Hayman, Andrew Hore, Chris Jack, Richie McCaw, Chris Masoe, Keven Mealamu, Anton Oliver, Greg Somerville, Rodney So'oialo, Reuben Thorne, Ali Williams, Tony Woodcock, Dan Carter, Byron Kelleher, Leon MacDonald, Aaron Mauger, Mils Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Piri Weepu.

From these 22 players, Jason Eaton and Piri Weepu didn't make the final All Blacks squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

[citation needed] During the 2006 Super 14 season, SA Rugby announced that, contrary to the original plans, the Southern Spears would not replace the lowest ranked South African based side.

In August 2006, however, the Spears won a court case for inclusion into the 2007 season, which would be at the expense of the Cats, who changed their name to the Lions the following month.

[7] With the settlement, the season's Super 14 line-up was set, with the Lions taking up the final South African place.

Western Force began to show vast improvement from 2006 winning only their second match since entering the competition in 2006.

The 22 All Blacks missing from New Zealand teams started to have a visible effect on the kiwi sides with only the Hurricanes claiming a tight win over the Blues.

The Blues convincingly put away the Queensland Reds while the Force surrendered in the final seconds to the Lions leaving them yet to win a home game.

The Brumbies also suffered a loss at | home to the Bulls whereas the controversial game of the round saw the Waratahs draw with the Western Force because of a blunder by Waratahs utility back Sam Norton-Knight who decide to run with the ball in the final minute instead of taking the penalty shot which could have won them the game and for his mistake Lote Tuqiri shoved him and walked off the pitch looking very disappointed.

Seeking their first ever victory at Subiaco the Force looked to have squandered an 11–10 lead upon conceding a try with two minutes left to put the score at 17–11.

The game saw Doug Howlett score two tries and in doing so becoming the equal highest try scorer in Super Rugby history (with Joe Roff of the Brumbies).

The Waratahs then played a | home game against the Bulls – who won 32–19 thanks to two tries apiece to Bryan Habana and Fourie du Preez.

The Crusaders began to show their regular form with a win against the Bulls and the Waratahs season slumped to a new low with a home loss at the hands of the Stormers.

The Highlanders recorded a home win over the Cheetahs to open the round before the Force subjected the Sharks to their second loss in as many matches in Perth.

The Blues' Doug Howlett took sole possession of the all-| time try scoring lead in Super Rugby during the latter match.

In the sole Easter Sunday clash the Waratahs failed to resurrect their season against the Brumbies – going down 36–10 in the interstate grudge match between the rivals.

The Blues lost to the Sharks at home, going down by 7 points, and the Waratahs won only their second game this season, defeating the Reds, who sit at the bottom of the table.

The Crusaders defeated the Hurricanes in a thrilling encounter which saw Jerry Collins being stretchered off after injuring his neck in a tackle on Rua Tipoki.

The Waratahs lost to the Highlanders by a point after Peter Hewat missed another conversion, and in a South African derby, the Bulls thrashed the Lions 31–7.

This was an exciting week for the two South African contenders the Bulls and the Sharks, both with possibilities of a home semi final.

The Sharks played an efficient and professional game whilst the Stormers played their usual erratic hot and cold game that had seen them beat some good teams during the season, but in the end the Sharks easily claimed a 36–10 victory to be the first South African side to finish at the top of the table at the end of the round-robin stage in the Super 14 competition's history.

The Bulls, who needed a bonus-point win to reach the semifinals, easily achieved this goal a quarter of the way into the "match".

If the Bulls went 72 points clear of the Reds, they would leapfrog to second, giving them a home semifinal in the high-altitude cauldron of noise that is Loftus Versfeld.

They seemed to reach this goal with little effort against a humiliated Reds side, setting a new Super Rugby record for winning margin of 89 points.