There were just four games in Round 14 of Super Rugby Pacific, three of which were won in a canter.
The Waratahs' upset win in Fiji over the Drua was the pick of those, while the Hurricanes continued their scintillating form by crushing the Blues, and the Chiefs made light work of the Highlanders.
The Force meanwhile continued their late-season revival, beating the Reds for the second time in 2026.
AUSSIE TEAMS ARE ALL AT THE SAME LEVEL - SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE WALLABIES?
This year's Super Rugby Pacific ladder can be broken down into three distinct tiers. Up top, the Hurricanes and Chiefs are, and have been all season, a clear cut above. Unless something strange happens in the playoffs, the two Kiwi front-runners will contest the final and what a final it would be.
The Crusaders are the team most likely to spring a semifinal upset and have their final two games of the regular season at home beforehand to build further momentum. With Will Jordan and potentially Scott Barrett to come back, their title defence is not done just yet.
But with six wins, two fewer than the Blues, and with losses to the Brumbies, Reds and Force, it certainly hasn't been a vintage season from the 13-time champions. And as for the Aucklanders? They are limping to the finish, with an out-of-sorts Beauden Barrett now having serious questions applied to his All Blacks future.
And so they can be grouped with the four Aussie teams, alongside the Highlanders and Fijian Drua, who were heavy losers to the Chiefs and Waratahs respectively in Round 14. With the bye to come in the final round, the Highlanders' season is effectively over, while the Drua face two tough away games in Perth and Brisbane. They too look done.
And while Moana Pasifika reportedly still have parties attempting to keep them alive beyond this season, they are without a win since Round 1. Moana sit alone at the bottom in their own world of hurt.
So what does one make of the Australian teams, the Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs and Force, then?
In a curious turn of events, they have virtually cannibalised each other all year. The Reds have done the double over the Brumbies and Waratahs; the Force swept the Reds and may yet do the same to the Waratahs; while NSW can do that to the ACT with a win on Friday night. And the Brumbies beat the Force both home and away. Chaos.
The big question is, then: what does this mean for the Wallabies and Joe Schmidt's final three games in charge?
Is it better to have one standout team and pick a majority of players from it -- the Brumbies had six players in Australia's starting XV against Fiji last year after finishing third in Super Rugby - or cobble together a run-on side from four teams that have essentially performed at largely the same level?
Sure, existing combinations must still be considered, while none of Australia's teams have performed with the set-piece quality they would have liked; the Reds' lineout, meanwhile, has been truly woeful.
It has therefore set the stage for one of the more intriguing buildups to Australia's first Test of the season, against Ireland in Sydney, particularly with overseas stars Angus Bell, Len Ikitau, Tom Hooper, Noah Lolesio and Taniela Tupou, also available for selection.
There will be genuine selection discussion in every position.
HEARTBREAK FOR TANGITAU
If there was one player deserving of a Test debut in 2026, it was the Highlanders Caleb Tangitau. Unfortunately, the winger will now have to wait until 2027 at least, after he tore his Achilles late in the Highlanders' 42-12 defeat by the Chiefs.
Tangitau came through the New Zealand sevens system before exploding onto the Super Rugby scene last year and was thought to be close to an All Blacks callup for last year's northern tour. He was instead named in the All Blacks XV.
But his form for the Highlanders in 2026 had been undeniable, and with other outside back contenders heading overseas, namely Fehi Fineanganofo and Sevu Reece, Tangitau was understood to be under serious consideration by incoming All Blacks boss Dave Rennie.
Sadly, his quest for black jersey will have to wait another year.
FINEANGANOFO ON THE CUSP OF HISTORY
While we're on the subject of New Zealand wingers, the Super Rugby season try-scoring record is poised to be broken, maybe as early as Round 15, after Hurricanes flyer Fehi Fineanganofo scored his 16th five-pointer of the season.
Fineanganofo joined Joe Roff and Ben Lam who set the mark in 1997 and 2018 respectively when he crossed early in the second half of the Hurricanes' crushing win over the Blues in Auckland, albeit after he had thrown what looked to be a clear forward pass only moments earlier.
The winger's ball to replacement back-rower Brayden Iose was not just forward, but forward out of the hands, yet still drew no action from the officials.
"They're [Hurricanes] a good team, but they don't need help from the officials," Blues coach Vern Cotter said when asked later about a couple of calls. "At times, there were some things that didn't go our way and some things that we created that made it difficult for ourselves as well," he said.
"I just think when a team is on top of the table, quite often they get the 50-50s."
With two further games to go in the regular season, and then potentially three finals matches, Fineanganofo could foreseeably run up a total of 20 tries by the end of the year, such is the Canes' attacking quality.
Signed by Newcastle to play in the English Premiership next season, Fineanganofo may have however cost himself an All Blacks berth by doing so, particularly with Tangitau now gone for the season.
WARATAHS FIND THEIR MOJO IN FIJI AFTER YOUNG HALVES DELIVER
NSW coach Dan McKellar will have had a mixed flight home from Fiji on Sunday, after his side turned in a stunning first-half performance against the Drua before going onto win 50-35 in Suva.
McKellar was clearly delighted with his team's effort as they kept their finals hopes alive for another week, but with four hours to ponder the season as a whole must have cursed the fact such a performance had been an outlier and not the norm.
The 15-point win will have thrown up some interesting selection decisions for McKellar, too, after young halves Teddy Wilson and Jack Bowen were at the crux of the Waratahs' first-half onslaught alongside Kiwi hooker Ioane Moananu.
Wilson's delivery and running game around the edges was first rate, while Bowen kicked astutely, and generally didn't overplay his hand at No. 10; the fly-half's finest moment a deft grubber in behind the Drua defence that resulted in a try to Max Jorgensen.
Having lost star centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to hamstring tightness in the leadup, this was a win when NSW had also overcome additional adversity.
So, what does McKellar do now? Stick with the same starting side who annihilated the Drua in the first 40, or bring back the experienced duo of Jake Gordon and Jack Debreczeni for what looms as a season-defining clash with the Brumbies?
McKellar's decision will be telling - and give an insight into his thinking for next season. Meanwhile out west, Max Burey's performance for the Force in their win over the Reds should also give hope to NSW fans for next season.
CAMPBELL SHOULD BE IN WALLABIES RECKONING
Queensland's hopes of a home final in the first week of the playoffs officially came to an end with a 19-14 defeat by the Force in Perth, where they were again left to lament a truly dreadful lineout.
A team that wins just 57% of its own lineout ball will always struggle to win.
That inability to win their own set-piece left the Reds struggling to control possession and territory and they were eventually squeezed out of the contest by the Force in much the same fashion as the Waratahs had been a fortnight earlier.
There were still a couple of notable performances from Reds players however, and none more so than Jock Campbell, who has been a threat at fullback all season.
Still to confirm his future beyond this season, Campbell has been the form fullback in Australian rugby this year, with incumbent Wallabies custodian Tom Wright just a few games into his comeback from an ACL injury.
Campbell's last two contracts have been for one season alone; the difference this time is that Reds coach Les Kiss will soon become the Wallabies boss, too. If Campbell re-signs in the coming weeks, take it as given that Kiss has told him he is in his Wallabies planning.
On the strength of his form this season, Campbell certainly deserves to add to his four Test caps.