KEY POINTS:
The Chiefs have got used to the feel of a highwire between their toes in the past two months.
Having successfully avoided a slip in that time, tonight's match against the Crusaders at Jade Stadium might seem a doddle.
It's just another night when nothing other than victory will do - the only difference being this time there really is no safety net on the way down.
The equations are simple in this final round-robin clash.
A Crusaders win gives the defending champions a home semifinal; a loss might have them on the road for next week's semifinals.
A Chiefs win, with a bonus point, could have them in the last four, depending on other results; a loss and a run that has had a fair measure of swagger and thrills is over.
Then there are the statistics. The Chiefs have never won in Christchurch; they've beaten the defending champions only twice in 11 years.
The Crusaders have won 26 successive home games, to which the Chiefs' view is that if someone's got to end that run, why should it not be them tonight.
The Chiefs have won six of their last seven games which, allied to 10 bonus points, has marched them up to the edge of the playoffs. Each week has become a must-win, so that should ease any twitchiness tonight.
"It's very familiar, and I think that's a positive for us," Chiefs coach Ian Foster said. "We've been jumping a few hurdles in the last six or seven weeks to stay alive.
"We like the way we play, scoring tries and having an attack focus. When you're going to play a team with a fantastic home record like the Crusaders, you really do have to go out with that mentality."
The world's best first five-eighths, Daniel Carter, is out with a shoulder injury. That can't hurt the Chiefs' ambitions. Stephen Brett, his replacement, is a fine prospect, but he's no Carter.
His opposite, Stephen Donald, has grown in stature this season, is the leading points scorer in the championship and has become an influential figure.
"I feel in the second half of the campaign he's really settled, is making good decisions and is pretty confident with where his game is at," Foster said.
To win, the Chiefs need to play out of their skins, prevail in the personal contests, not allow the Crusaders to set the tempo or damage them on the counter-attack and grab their chances. Simple, really.
Only the Crusaders, with 45, have scored more tries than the Chiefs' 41. Expect plenty of activity on the scoreboard.
The down-to-earth Jono Gibbes reckons it's been pretty simple in the last few weeks for the Chiefs. "We've got to win and if it gets to the end and we're in the top four, fantastic."
