The 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season is down to its final four combatants, after the weekend's quarterfinals threw up two cracking contests - and two others that followed the pre-game script.
The Chiefs, Crusaders, Blues and Brumbies have advanced to the semifinals, with those games to be played in Hamilton and Christchurch.
On Friday, the Crusaders will host the Blues at Orangetheory Stadium; then on Saturday, the Chiefs will welcome the Brumbies to FMG Waikato Stadium.
Read on as we review some of the Super - and Not So Super - action from the quarterfinals.
SUPER
DRAMATIC CONCLUSION TO A CANBERRA CLASSIC
We could not have asked for a better quarterfinal than the one served up by the Brumbies and Hurricanes at GIO Stadium on Saturday night - nor expected the drama that preceded the moments before the final whistle.
In the end, it was the hosts who emerged victorious 37-33 after a gripping, see-sawing encounter that neither side deserved to lose. And the nature of just how the visitors' season came to an end has made it particularly difficult for both the Hurricanes and their supporters to absorb.
That, of course, was the no-try ruling that denied Hurricanes skipper Ardie Savea a match-winning five-pointer after the siren had sounded.
With the game on the line and the Brumbies backpedaling, Savea picked the ball up from the breakdown as he has done with great effect throughout his career and powered over the tryline, despite the defensive efforts of Luke Reimer and Rhys Van Nek, just inside the right upright.
Given his momentum and bodyheight, it looked for all money that Savea had done enough to send his side through to the semifinals. However, referee Nic Berry did not witness a grounding and instead sought clarification from the Television Match Official.
Crucially, Berry had sent his decision up as "no try" as he had not seen Savea clearly ground the ball. When multiple television angles did not offer up a different outcome, the TMO had little choice but to stick with Berry's on-field decision and the belief that Reimer's arm had done enough to prevent the Hurricanes skipper from grounding the ball.
"I scored it, brother," Savea told Stan Sport.
"Initially I scored it and then he held me up. But hey, it is what it is.
"I'm gutted, but honestly, brother, I'm just really grateful and blessed bro to be here... it came down to that last play and as much as I disagree, that's just the way footy goes."
Reimer, unsurprisingly, saw the decision differently: "(I got) left hand under, strong side," the replacement back-rower said.
Given the available vision, and the fact that Berry sent his decision up as no try, the TMO made the right call. However, had Berry sent it up as an on-field try and asked the TMO only to "give me a reason not to award the try", then the Hurricanes might well have found themselves headed to Hamilton on Saturday.
But given the Brumbies were themselves on the wrong end of a non-penalty decision from Ben O'Keeffe against the Blues in last year's semifinals, perhaps this was the "swings and roundabouts" nature of line-ball decisions evening out?
That sentiment won't appease Hurricanes fans, but the point has also been made that if Jordie Barrett had unloaded to an unmarked Bailyn Sullivan the phase before Savea's carry, then the Hurricanes would likely have scored and stolen the victory.
What there was no conjecture about was the quality of the contest, as both sides played some sparkling rugby that suggested they were well on their way to winning the match.
REDS SAVE THEIR BEST FOR THE CHIEFS, AGAIN
While the Brumbies-Hurricanes clash was predicted to prove the game of the weekend, there was far less confidence that the Reds would be any sort of matchup for a full-strength Chiefs outfit earlier on Saturday.
But just as they had done in New Plymouth during the regular season, the Reds executed a clever game plan that troubled the Chiefs - only this time the hosts found a way to breakdown the Queensland blueprint and ensure they wouldn't be an eliminated No. 1 seed.
The Reds outscored the Chiefs three tries to two, with winger Suliasi Vunivalu crossing for a timely double, but a crucial late penalty against Seru Uru when the visitors were hard on the attack would prove to be a turning point the Reds could not overcome.
With that decision, the Chiefs were able to rumble downfield through the heart of the Reds' defence, back-rower Pita-Gus Sowakula scoring the try that killed off Queensland's stubborn resistance.
But along with Vuinvalu's timely double, there were a couple of other key individual performances from Reds players, just a couple of days after Wallabies coach Eddie Jones had told Sydney-based Australian media that strong quarterfinal showings would carry extra weight for Test selection in the coming weeks.
Whether James O'Connor did enough against the Chiefs, and over the closing weeks of the regular season for that matter, to earn a Wallabies recall remains to be seen, but there was certainly a lot to like about the veteran utility's game in Hamilton as he managed a 50/22 punt and a try assist.
Meanwhile, openside flanker Fraser McReight made and extraordinary 28 tackles and hooker Matt Faessler 25, while No. 8 Harry Wilson was also heavily involved in the Reds' big defensive shift and added 56 running metres for good measure.
The 29-20 defeat did however bring down the curtain on Brad Thorn's tenure as Queensland coach.
The Reds are well down the road on their search for his replacement, and whichever candidate that turns out to be will surely have been impressed by the performance Thorn's men produced in Hamilton.
It will have also provided the Brumbies further insights on how the Chiefs can be troubled, after ACT adopted a far different, and ultimately unsuccessful, game plan in Canberra a few weeks ago.
DEBRECZENI PROVES GENERATION OF AUSSIE PLAYMAKERS MIGHT NOT ALL BE LOST
Jack Debreczeni has been one of the unheralded stories of Australian rugby this season.
A player who showed so much promise in the early years of his professional career, Debreczeni's game began to suffer behind a Rebels pack that was always on the back foot, before he headed for New Zealand and then Japan.
But Debreczeni returned home this year, finding a place at the Brumbies as cover for Noah Lolesio. However, on the strength of his performances against the Hurricanes, and that a week earlier against the Rebels too, Debrecezni could well lay claim to being Stephen Larkham's first-choice No. 10.
Debreczeni was certainly a worthy man-of-the-match against the Hurricanes, as he scored a try, and played a key hand in another, defended stoutly, and kicked well both out of hand and from the tee.
Cut in a similar frame to the Rebels Carter Gordon, Debreczeni is a bigger body compared to the other Australian 10s such as Lolesio, Ben Donaldson and Tom Lynagh. However, unlike Gordon, Debreczeni kicks goals.
The Brumbies playmaker might not be at the front of Eddie Jones' radar right now, but with the ongoing prospect of injuries throughout the Rugby Championship, it will surely be of comfort that another fly-half has put together a string of quality performances in the No. 10 shirt.
"He's encouraged me this year, like we say a bigger body in that 22, if I see that seam between the third and fourth defender, to have a crack," Debrecezni told Stan Sport of some advice from Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham. "So he's given me that confidence, definitely.
"And we've just been working on that throughout the season, and I guess I got a little opportunity to get the big frame over the line."
NOT SO SUPER
PAPALI'I FORTUNATE TO ESCAPE SANCTION FOR HOOPER HIT
The Blues were comfortable winners against the Waratahs on Friday night, Leon MacDonald's side turning a 17-7 halftime lead into a comfortable 41-12 victory that booked their place in the semifinals.
The may, however, be counting their lucky stars after skipper Dalton Papali'i received no sanction for an ugly looking cleanout on Waratahs skipper Michael Hooper midway through the second half.
While the incident would likely have had no effect on the result, Papali'i appeared incredibly fortunate to not at least be penalised for collecting Hooper with head-on-head contact as he attempted to shift the Waratahs No. 7 from the breakdown.
There was initially confusion over whether Hooper needed to be brought from the field for a Head Injury Assessment, while the angle that clearly showed Papali'i made contact with Hooper's head wasn't provided by the broadcaster until after play had resumed.
Given what we have been told about head-on-head contact in recent times, and largely how it has been refereed it was surprising to see the incident go unsanctioned.
Papali'i has also not been cited post-match.