The stage is now set for the six-week run to the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs, with the final bye-round in the books and all 12 teams still a chance of playing finals football - mathematically at least.
Say what you want about an inflated playoffs group, but it will certainly ensure there is genuine importance on the vast majority of games over the next few weeks.
In Round 9 of the competition, the Hurricanes and Blues maintained their respective first and second positions at the top of the ladder, while the Reds and Force picked up memorable wins over Kiwi opposition.
Read on as we review some of the Super - And Not So Super - action from the weekend.
SUPER
BEALE, RODDA RETURN IN ROLLICKING FORCE WIN
This column has been particularly stinging in its criticism of the Force the past few years, with good reason for doing so. But one must also be effusive in its praise when it is warranted, and that was exactly the case in Perth on Saturday night.
In what was surely among the top handful of performances of their 17-year existence, the Force made the Crusaders look like a club team as they triumphed 37-15 for only their second win of the year.
This was a win for the Simon Cron era, one that will inspire confidence in every arm of the organisation, right down into the hearts of the franchise's passionate supporters. The Kiwi coach has carefully built his squad since taking charge, acquiring the pieces he believes will take the team forward over the next few years.
Those players haven't always covered themselves in glory, far from it in fact. But on Saturday night the Force showed they are a team that could not only absorb pressure, but then also apply it on the scoreboard themselves, dominating the Crusaders on both sides of the ball.
And how long has it been since you have seen the Force score a try like the one finished by Chase Tiatia in Perth? Have they ever?
The clean execution of skill, the running lines, the setup, the speed; it was a try you'd typically expect from the Chiefs at their very best. But no, this was the Force, showing they, too, can play attractive, attacking rugby.
While their other three tries came from the rolling maul, the Force deserve serious plaudits for a performance in which every player contributed - and some returning veterans really showed their class.
For both Kurtley Beale and Izack Rodda there will have been times when both men have wondered whether their rugby playing days were over. For Beale, the situation has obviously been far more serious.
But both players returned on Saturday night showing no rust whatsoever; to the uninformed, their performances would have given the impression that they had been regulars all season.
Beale's mere presence is enough to have the opposition defensive line asking questions of itself, the fullback chiming in out wide in the lead-up to the Tiatia try, and generally presenting another attacking option throughout. Though several of the inside balls he ran onto were dubious at best, Beale can serve as both a second distributor and a hole-runner himself, making him a dangerous attacking weapon.
Both skipper Nic White and Rodda spoke of Beale's communicative presence, too, how the 95-Test Wallabies back was barking orders in defence throughout. Such a dominant voice, directing defensive alignment, is just as valuable as Beale's attacking exploits.
Rodda, meanwhile, probably didn't anticipate playing 59 minutes in his comeback game. But the Wallabies lock, who had barely laced a boot for two years because of a debilitating foot injury, was tireless in defence and at lineout time, particularly early in the second half when the Crusaders had a five-metre set-piece with designs on a rolling maul, only for Rodda to intervene and pick off the throw.
At 27 years of age, Rodda still has his best rugby ahead of him. If he can see out the remainder of the Super Rugby season injury free, you can guarantee he will be a part of Joe Schmidt's Wallabies plans.
Beale's Test career might also not be done. Age is certainly not on his side, but such was the sharpness of his return and the fact that he can cover 10, 12 and 15, there may yet be a utility role in the offing for the next year or so.
And a final shout-out to another rugby journeyman Sam Carter. The former Brumbies and Wallabies lock was another tireless contributor on Saturday night and looks a superb pick-up for Cron and the Force.
BRILLIANT BLUES BUTCHER BRUMBIES
It was billed as the game of the weekend given the ladder positions of second and third, but the Blues-Brumbies thriller the neutrals were hoping for did not eventuate. It was the opposite, in fact, as Vern Cotter's side produced their finest performance of the season to hammer ACT 46-7.
The Blues performance was again built on the power-running of their forwards, with skipper Patrick Tuipulotu, No. 8 Hoskins Sotutu, lock Lachlan McWhannell and flanker Dalton Papali'I combining for a total 146 metres. That laid the platform for the Blues outside backs, who had a field day running over a backpedaling Brumbies line that was asked to make 231 tackles compared with the Blues' 65.
The victory means the Blues have moved a bonus-point win clear of the Brumbies and now hold the tiebreaker should the two teams finish level on the ladder at the end of the season. But the three-time Super Rugby champions will still have designs on top spot and with the return game at Eden Park to come against the Hurricanes, they remain a genuine chance of securing top seed for the playoffs.
On the evidence of Saturday night's performance, no team will want to go anywhere near Eden Park during the playoffs. Cotter has added genuine starch and a real route-one approach to the Blues that they have lacked in seasons past, and that is only freeing up more space for their devastating outside backs.
PAISAMI PICK OF REDS SUPER SHUTOUT
Queensland Reds had dropped three straight ahead of Friday night's clash with the Highlanders, a match they confronted without arguably their two most important players in Tate McDermott and Fraser McReight.
Thankfully for the Reds, the Highlanders were in a similar hole after four straight defeats. And that became five in embarrassing fashion as the Kiwis failed to score a point at Suncorp Stadium, Queensland securing their first shutout win in 25 years.
At the heart of their performance was Hunter Paisami, who thrust himself right back into the Wallabies selection conversation at 12 with a superb showing that reflected the growth in his game, but also that he remains a genuine hitman in defence when given an opportunity.
Paisami scored the Reds' first try, and had a hand in two of their other three by playing provider for first Lawson Creighton and then Suliasi Vunivalu. Paisami finished the match with 12 runs for 40 metres, two try assists, three tackles busts and nine tackles himself.
With uncertainty around Samu Kerevi's Test future - he has been playing in the second Japanese division this season - Paisami may well be in a straight shootout for the Wallabies No. 12 jersey with the Waratahs' Lalakai Foketi.
The closing six weeks of the competition will be massive for both players, with their situations likely to be aided by a team run that extends at least into the opening week of the finals and hopefully beyond it.
NOT SO SUPER
WHAT WERE THE BRUMBIES THINKING?
The final scoreline might not show it, but the Brumbies had every chance to take an early foothold in their clash with the Blues.
The Brumbies looked set to score after just five minutes when they broke from inside their own half through Hudson Creighton, who set Ollie Sapsford on a run to the line. The winger was brought down just short, but Blues scrum-half Taufa Funaki was sin-binned for side entry at the tackle, the offense deemed cynical by referee Ben O'Keeffe.
But rather than kick to the corner from the wide angle, or even set a scrum in the hope of exploiting the extra man's advantage, the Brumbies inexplicably opted for a tap, from which they turned the ball over a few phases later.
The Blues then rolled into the Brumbies' half soon after, cannoning through the heart of the visitors' defence to score the game's opening try only three minutes later.
The Brumbies had chances thereafter, too, but instead of trying to build a little scoreboard pressure through the boot of Noah Lolesio, ACT instead kicked to the corner for no result.
From there, the visitors' defensive workload began to mount and the Blues, with their tails up, made them pay to have the game won and done at 27-0 at the break.
But the call to tap the ball following Funaki's sin-binning and then not even offer up some form of deception was perplexing.
It did not reflect well on the Brumbies leaders, while both Ryan Lonergan and Noah Lolesio had unhappy nights with performances that won't have gone unnoticed by Joe Schmidt.
DROPPED BALL KILLS THE DRUA
First things first, what a sight Suva's HFC Bank Stadium was on Friday as the "house full" sign went up for not just the Fijian Drua's clash with the Hurricanes, but so too the earlier Super Rugby Women's semifinal between Fijiana and Western Force.
While Fijiana booked themselves into another decider, their male counterparts could not make the most of the Hurricanes' indiscipline - the visitors were handed three yellow cards and gave away 16 penalties - the Drua instead giving up a whopping 21 turnovers.
Whether it was close to the line or on the counter from inside their own half, too often the Drua pushed a pass that wasn't on or did not look after the ball well enough through contact.
They also ran for 618 metres compared to the Hurricanes 288, but lacked the patience and finishing polish to make the game of this one many thought they would.