The coaches won't talk about the big picture, preferring to focus on the task at hand, but the players know just what is at stake when the second-placed Chiefs host the front-running Hurricanes in Hamilton tonight.
"There's no hiding from the fact that whoever wins, it sets them up nicely," Chiefs first five-eighths Stephen Donald conceded.
While refreshing in its candour in the world of the one-step-at-a-time cliche, Donald's comment borders on understatement.
Sure, tonight's losers will receive another chance to confirm a semifinal place in next weekend's final round, but the winners will take a massive stride towards securing home advantage in the playoffs - something that will almost certainly be beyond the losers.
And, when it comes to dishing out Super rugby titles, home advantage is pretty much everything.
Of 26 semifinals, just four have been won by the away team. And just once - in 1999 when the Crusaders beat the Reds in Brisbane then the Highlanders in Dunedin - has a team forced to travel for a semifinal claimed the title.
Those facts aren't lost on Conrad Smith, who has endured his share of playoff heartache with the Hurricanes, a team with a one-win, four-loss semis record.
"The one semi we won was a home game and every away game we have lost - that probably speaks for itself," he said.
Both teams are near full strength for a match that will be played at a sold-out Waikato Stadium.
The Chiefs are without halfback Brendon Leonard, while the Hurricanes are minus blockbusting winger Hosea Gear, who is back playing club rugby and could return next week from a mid-season knee injury. Utility Dwayne Sweeney is also missing for the Chiefs, as is flanker Karl Lowe for the visitors, but neither would have been certain starters.
Having played at home last Friday night, the Hurricanes have enjoyed a less strenuous build-up than a Chiefs side who travelled back from South Africa, but neither camp are picking that disparity to affect the outcome.
"By [tonight] they will be fine," Smith said. "It makes the week hard but I'm sure they've done enough and they won't need to change too many things.
"Earlier in the year it would be [a factor] but by this stage, we have only had two trainings ourselves. Our focus is on staying fresh. We haven't had a bye since the fifth round. The danger for us is that that is going to catch up with us eventually."
The Hurricanes have been in rampant form of late, thrashing the Brumbies and Blues in successive weeks. Shutting down Ma'a Nonu will be near the top of the Chiefs' must-do list and Donald, who can expect the hulking game-breaker to come steaming down his defensive channel, knows he will have his work cut out.
"There's probably not a tougher defensive proposition in rugby than a night with Ma'a," Donald said. "There is nowhere to hide, you've just got to front up really."
Strike wingers Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lelia Masaga return to add an extra dimension, but the Hurricanes rate the steady presence of captain Mils Muliaina at fullback as more crucial to the Chiefs' fortunes.
"When you look at their form, the games [Muliaina] missed I think they lost every time - and when he has played they have won," Smith said.
"Playing with him in the All Blacks, it is not just the stuff he does with ball in hand, but his organisation and experience. You have to go a long way to find [a player] with that experience and it shows in the way they go."
The Hurricanes have won the last four encounters between the sides and have a healthy three-win, two-loss record in Hamilton. All four recent victories have been by healthy margins, but Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper insists those results count for nothing.
"That's history," Cooper said. "We don't go back into history and we don't go forwards. We stick in the present and in the present our teams are both very similar. They have both got good attacking weapons and a similar set piece, so it is going to be a tremendous game."
For the victors, no shortage of spoils await.
Rugby: No shortage of spoils for table-topping victors
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