The ACT Brumbies are finals bound for a fifth consecutive season, but will they be genuine Super Rugby championship contenders?
The Brumbies secured Australia's guaranteed play-off spot when they muscled their way past the Melbourne Rebels in a 32-3 win at a slippery Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
The dewy conditions made it hard for the Brumbies to fire a warning shot to the rest of the competition but they did enough to kill the NSW Waratahs' and Western Force's finals hopes.
Super Rugby will go on a month-long hiatus before the final two games of the regular-season against the Queensland Reds and Waikato Chiefs on July 7 and 15 respectively.
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The Brumbies will use the break to plot a path to a drought-breaking title and they'll get to take the first step in Canberra after winning the rights to a home final.
Whether they can be the shining beacon in an otherwise disastrous year for Australian rugby will be determined by the way they power into the play-offs.
Australian teams have lost 28 games in a row against New Zealand opponents, but the Brumbies believe they've got what it takes to break the trans-Tasman dominance.
They scored three tries in the second half to put the result beyond doubt, with Tevita Kuridrani, Wharenui Hawera and Nigel Ah Wong all crossing for a season-defining win.
The most impressive aspect was they kept the Rebels try-less and didn't leak a point in the second half.
"It's a good feeling going into this break," said Brumbies captain Sam Carter.
"We're really happy I think we've gained a lot of momentum. We knew this was going to be a tough week but we stuck in there.
"I think how clinical we were [was the good part]. At different parts of the game we weren't too fancy, we just put our heads down accumulated pressure and got points."
The mere fact they will make it that far silences any question marks about their resilience and guts after losing some of the most influential players in Australia at the end of last year.
The Brumbies lost Stephen Moore, David Pocock, Matt Toomua and Joe Tomane last year while Tomas Cubelli (knee) and Christian Lealiifano (leukaemia) haven't played a game this season.
Their absence has given unheralded players, including Chris Alcock, Joe Powell and Tom Banks, a chance to step up and stake their claim for a new generation to stand tall.
At times they've been sloppy and disjointed as a new team and cold and wet conditions on a chilly night didn't help their hopes of playing free-flowing attacking rugby.
But the Brumbies did what they came to achieve, getting a bonus-point win to complete a form turnaround and a hat-trick of triumphs.
Hosting a home final could have the added bonus of being a financial kicker for the Brumbies and help them turn a profit for the first time in a decade after losing more than $3 million in the past three years.
It also ensures coach Stephen Larkham will get at least one more home town farewell as he prepares to leave the club to become a full-time Wallabies assistant.
It will be a changing of the guard after his assistant, Dan McKellar, was named as his replacement on the eve of the clash against the Rebels.
"The Brumbies were probably just better in every department, their set piece was strong and credit to them for a good performance," said Rebels captain Nic Stirzaker.
"We'll regroup, take a breath and work on everything I'd say and hopefully come back from the break better."
The Waratahs are now 13 points behind the Brumbies with two games remaining while the Force were 15 points behind before their clash against the Wellington Hurricanes late on Saturday night in Perth.
The Force needed a bonus-point win against the Hurricanes and to rely on the Brumbies losing both of their remaining games to be any chance of rising above the ACT side.
The injury-ravaged Rebels posed a major threat to the Brumbies' hopes of a happy homecoming after a two-game tour of South Africa and Argentina.
The Melbourne side has had 52 players on their roster at different times this season as they struggled with a nightmare injury toll and they're still fighting an off-field battle for their future in the competition.
But they were never going to roll over in the capital after beating the Brumbies two months ago and they were fired-up to bash Larkham's men again.
They pushed the boundaries too far in an early scuffle and it opened the door for the Brumbies to boot the first penalty of the game.
Most expected the Brumbies to blow the Rebels off the field after winning both games on a tour to South Africa and Argentina.
But the dewy Canberra conditions proved the leveller in the opening exchanges and Reece Hodge hammered a long-range penalty to lock the score at 3-3 in a scrappy start.
The Brumbies finally cracked the Rebels' line when Henry Speight took a quick tap to set up Jordan Smiler for his first try in 25 matches.
The first half finished fittingly with a knock on from each team after they struggled to adapt to greasy conditions in a slow stop-start opening 40 minutes.
The Brumbies wasted no time making amends for bombed opportunities when they returned to the field, with Tevita Kuridrani crashing over and carrying three Rebels' defenders to extend the lead to 18-3.
Flanker Chris Alcock then busted the game open when he made a break off the back of the lineout and Wharenui Hawera scored from the next play.
It was the turning point for the game and secured a crucial winning bonus point which will catapult the Brumbies into the Super Rugby finals again.
AT A GLANCE
ACT BRUMBIES 32 (Jordan Smiler, Tevita Kuridrani, Wharenui Hawera, Nigel Ah Wong tries; Wharenui Hawera 2 penalties, 3 conversions) bt MELBOURNE REBELS 3 (Reece Hodge penalty) at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night. Referee: Nick Briant. Crowd: 8970.