Super Rugby Pacific has officially rounded the corner and set course for the finals, with the Hurricanes now five points clear at the top of the table.
Clark Laidlaw's side remain unbeaten after a 36-23 win over the Chiefs over the weekend, while Moana Pasifika, the Waratahs and Rebels also picked up victories in the second of three straight bye rounds.
Read on as we review some of the Super - and Not So Super - action from Round 8.
SUPER
DYNAMIC DARBY ANOTHER OUTSTANDING SEVENS PRODUCT
Melbourne Rebels continued their unlikely pursuit of a maiden playoffs berth with an entertaining 47-31 win over the Highlanders to move into fifth spot on the competition ladder.
While Carter Gordon again starred, and both Andrew Kellaway and Josh Kemeny made a huge impact on their returns from injury, it was 20-year-old rookie Darby Lancaster who lit up AAMI Park with a superbly taken hat trick.
Lancaster announced himself on the Sevens World Series last season, scoring a number of breathtaking long range tries that underlined his speed and footwork in traffic. And while a return to John Manenti's sevens squad looms for the Olympics in a couple of months' time, on the evidence of his efforts on Saturday night, Lancaster is bound to come into Wallabies calculations in the future.
The Rebels winger's first five-pointer came down the left touchline when he got on the outside of Highlanders fullback Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, grubber-kicked ahead and won the race to the ball to touch down in the corner in the 21st minute.
Lancaster's second was even better as he received a delightful tip pass from Kellaway, again burned his man down the touchline, before he weaved in and out of the cover defence. Lancaster was half-tackled by Jonah Nareki, but he released the ball and got back to his feet and survived a last-ditch attempt from Folau Fakatava to score.
The wait for a third was a little longer, but again Lancaster showed supreme skill in picking a loose Highlanders pass up off his bootlaces to sprint 50 metres and score under the sticks, snuffing out any chance the visitors had of an unlikely late comeback.
"It's just out and out speed, he's got real gas, he backs himself, he come out of that sevens circuit so if you put him in space he understands that if people turn their shoulders then he's going to manipulate that," Rebels coach Kevin Foote said of Lancaster.
"But it's just the way he finishes [is awesome]; he's no nonsense, he's country, he just smiles and gets on with it. He's a great guy to have."
Foote confirmed that Lancaster has a release in his contract that allows him to opt to return to the Australia sevens program to pursue an Olympics berth should he so wish, and that the Rebels would "support him" if that is what the youngster wants to do.
With Corey Toole and Dylan Pietsch - both Australia sevens graduates - pushing for Wallabies selection this year, it is clear that not only is Manenti's program driving results on the world circuit, but also providing them with the requisite skills to be a success in 15s.
Lancaster may not be sighted in Wallabies gold this year, or even next, but he looms as another talented outside back option for the run to the 2027 World Cup and beyond.
PERENARA JOINS SAVEA ATOP THE TRY-SCORING CHART
TJ Perenara has to be one of the stories of 2024.
After more than 18 months out of the game with consecutive Achilles injuries, the veteran Hurricanes scrum-half returned in excellent condition and has fast become an integral part of the franchise's hopes of a second Super Rugby title.
With All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard ruled out for the season, Perenara has slotted seamlessly back into the yellow No. 9 jersey he had previously made his own and has now etched his name into Super Rugby history [for a week at least].
Perenara on Saturday scored his 62nd Super Rugby try, drawing level with former Hurricanes teammate Julian Savea, who reached the same mark a day earlier in Moana Pasifika's upset win over the Reds.
Long recognised as one of the best support players in the game, Perenara is the only halfback to feature in the top 10 alltime try-scorers in Super Rugby, which demonstrates just how hard he works off the ball.
With Roigard set to miss at least New Zealand's series with England, and Aaron Smith effectively in Test retirement, Perenara could well find himself back in the black jersey in July. For now, though, Perenara will look to continue to drive the Hurricanes towards that vitally important No. 1 seed for the playoffs - and see if he can skip a few ahead of Savea in the process.
TAH-TOUGH SHINES THROUGH IN FORWARD DUO
The Waratahs' Will Harrison has received most of the plaudits for NSW's unlikely win over the Crusaders on Friday night, and rightly so given his goal- and drop-kicking heroics.
But it was the performances of Ned Hanigan and Lachie Swinton that really caught the eye as NSW met the challenge of the visitors up front at Allianz Stadium.
Hanigan and Swinton both made a team-high 12 tackles, while the former had 10 runs for 26 metres and the latter seven runs for 25 metres and a try.
Both Hanigan and Swinton have featured in Wallabies squads over the past few years, though their inclusions have often brought more ire than praise, Hanigan in particular. But there is no doubt that both men are playing some of the best rugby of their careers this season and are worthy of Test selection under Joe Schmidt.
The problem is there might only be room for one of them, such is the form of both the Brumbies and Reds back-rows.
NOT SO SUPER
REDS SEASON UNRAVELS WITH STARS SET FOR SUSPENSION
Last month it looked like the Queensland Reds could not only compete for the top four, but even push for the title altogether. They had pushed the Hurricanes all the way into golden point, upset the Chiefs, and put the Rebels through the cleaners. But a loss to the Force rocked the ship and after defeats to the Brumbies and now Moana, Les Kiss is fast learning just how tough Super Rugby can be.
But the Queensland coach will be lamenting two key incidents of foul play, one that was so out of character for co-captain Tate McDermott that it was hard to be believe.
McDermott was Friday night shown a yellow card for an ugly swinging arm on Moana forward Irie Papuni, which was soon upgraded to a red via the bunker review system. McDermott seemed to object to be palmed in the face, with the scrum-half ploughing his right foream into Papuni's head once he had wrestled him to ground.
It was a straight-up brain explosion from the Wallabies No. 9, which will likely cost him at least two weeks on the sidelines. Making matters worse was the fact that it also cost the Reds a try, with Josh Flook having scored before the TMO intervened and brought the incident to the attention of referee Angus Mabey.
Still, the Reds rallied to build a 14-10 lead into the final 10 minutes, only to see star flanker Fraser McReight join McDermott on the sidelines for a high tackle. But where McDermott's misdemeanor was a rare loss of composure, McReight simply got his tackle technique wrong by not dipping at the waist.
Down a man in the dying stages - McDermott's 20-minute replacement had come on - the Reds were unable to repel one final Moana attack, with Willie Havili forcing his way through Josh Flook to score in the 80th minute and snatch victory for the home side.
The Reds have slipped to sixth as result of that 17-14 loss, and now must rebound against the Highlanders this week, in all likelihood without three of their frontline stars given Flook looks to have picked up a shoulder injury.
CRUSADERS SUFFER ULTIMATE IMPLOSION
Rob Penney must still be wondering how on earth the Crusaders finished up losing to the Waratahs for a second time this season.
When replacement back-rower Christian Lio-Willie scored in with 78.27 showing on the clock, Penney must have thought his team were home at 38-33. But when referee Nic Berry ruled that Rivez Reihana had kicked the conversion before fulltime, the Waratahs were granted a late reprieve. Reihana, however, could have eaten up a couple more seconds on the shot clock.
What followed were even greater catastrophes, as the Crusaders fumbled the restart, immediately handing possession back to NSW, before Johnny McNicholl was penalised and then yellow-carded for a deliberate knockdown, giving Harrison the opportunity to level the scores which the replacement fly-half duly did.
It got worse when the Crusaders then produced a lineout akin to the infamous Wallabies set-piece against Wales at the World Cup, again turning possession over to NSW, who moved into position to get Harrison a shot at drop goal.
Again the young playmaker delivered, sparking joyous scenes around Allianz Stadium.
But it was three key errors in a matter of minutes that cost the Crusaders and has left their season on life support.