Stormers coach Allister Coetzee says the Super Rugby competition has been broken wide open.
The Blues still head the New Zealand conference with 50 points, six ahead of the Crusaders, while the Reds have 50 points, with four from this weekend's bye to be added, while the Stormers lead the South African conference with 48 points, five ahead of the Sharks.
The top six teams overall are (after Friday's play): Reds 50, Blues 50, Stormers 48, Crusaders 44, Sharks 43, Waratahs 40.
Coetzee said after his side's last-minute win over the Blues 28-26 at Eden Park on Friday night had resurrected the Stormers' season and was a direct turnaround from the previous week's loss to the Chiefs.
"I was very relieved. It was a great 40 minutes in the second half. We showed a lot of belief in the second half. The Blues were hitting back," he said.
Coetzee offered his commiserations to the Blues. It would have been a heart-breaking end to the game but he knew how they were feeling after his experience in Hamilton a week earlier.
"A win was very important for the confidence of the side. It was important to bounce back," he said.
The win was all the more impressive given the loss of their three midfield internationals, Peter Grant, Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie.
He had faith that first five-eighths Lionel Cronje could step up and while he rated centre Johan Sadie an outstanding younger player. And while Dewaldt Duvenage had probably not played first five-eighths since high school, he had the ball skills to handle the role when he needed to replace the injured Cronje.
"It [the competition] is still wide open. There is still a lot of rugby to be played. It is tight at the top," Coetzee said.
Skipper Schalk Burger said whatever the correctness over whether he grounded the ball over the line for the match-winning try, he would definitely be taking it.
"It was a fantastic match. It would have been the third loss in a row had we loss. It was critical for us at this point. It resurrects our campaign. At 19-3 down we were under pressure. In the first half we were frustrated, we lost lineouts, but in the second half we fronted up and got quite physical," he said.