The BKT URC play-off pairings are now known, after the final round of matches was played out last weekend.
The league table doesn't lie.
Sometimes teams feel aggrieved with a couple of close losses and the narrative surrounding them can often be what they might have achieved if things happened differently.
Similarly, teams can scrape a few wins and others will feel that they’re more beatable than their league positions suggests.
However, luck averages out over the course of a season and if teams miss out narrowly a few times, then the argument is that they don’t have enough in their artillery to get across the line.
Being beaten once or twice when you’ve underperformed or being on the end of narrow losses will most likely be due to a shortcoming in your own preparation or capacity.
Munster got the job done in the final quarter against Benetton last weekend in a head-to-head shootout.
They weren’t comfortable by any means, as pressure mounted when they trailed 14-10 in the first half of their home fixture.
However, they had the firepower and the setpiece to put Benetton away and set up a showdown with the Hollywoodbets Sharks.
Munster have been inconsistent this season.
Finishing sixth is probably what they deserve on the balance of things, though when you look through their squad they should be confident of causing an upset in any away play-off.
They’ve done it before and have a belief within the organisation.
Injuries have affected Ian Costello’s side at times throughout the season, which is a factor within their inconsistencies considering their team had to chop and change as a result.
However, Munster have their own weaknesses to address regardless of injury lists.
Their lineout functions well when it gets the attention that the setpiece needs, but it has hit serious stumbling blocks.
Their defence has leaked simple scores, despite the dominance that they have shown at times.
There’s work to do if Munster want to go on the play-off run that we know they are capable of.
The table also doesn’t lie for Leinster. Again, they’ve been the dominant team in this league, and at a canter.
A straight league shootout would suit Leo Cullen's men better at this stage. Tight, one-off games have gotten away from them in recent seasons.
They even stuttered through the challenge of Glasgow last weekend.
However, their reward for earning top spot is a home draw throughout the play-offs and they should now begin to put their Champions Cup anguish to bed with a league win and turn the tide in these knockout games.
Two Irish teams comfortably missing out on the play-offs gives some stark reality to the IRFU.
Connacht failed to mount any real attack on the higher seedings, and Ulster fell away any time you’d think they were about to capitalise on a gritty performance.
It’s not good enough for Irish rugby, but this is the reality of where the system has gone and how the squad budgets and head coach roulette has affected their place in the league.
Welsh rugby looked like it had turned a corner with both Scarlets and Cardiff in play-off spots, while Munster lingered outside the top eight.
However, one Welsh team scraping into the knockouts and another rooted at the foot of the table is probably an unfortunately fair representation of what Welsh rugby has deserved up to this point.
Cardiff and Scarlets punched above their weight at times, so too did Ospreys but much less consistently.
Cardiff have been exciting under Matt Sherratt but have still missed out on qualification after a valiant effort in South Africa last weekend.
They were were two match points from qualification, and threw away one match point last weekend after giving away a penalty following a conversion that put them in with a chance of qualification.
They’re one of those teams that could argue for deserving two more match points throughout the year and nobody would find an issue with them making it to the play-offs.
Yet, if they deserved to be in the play-offs they would have converted one or two more chances and been in with a chance instead of being finished up for the summer.
South African teams continue to add something to this league structure.
The logistics might prove difficult and it’s certainly not optimal with their teams being disadvantaged at the beginning of the season due to international players' game time management coming off the back of the Rugby Championship.
Yet they still have the most representation in the top eight and some of the more exciting match ups in the competition.
Glasgow Warriors hosting the Stormers is likely to be the most competitive of all the games, unsurprising considering they finished fourth and fifth and are therefore the closest seedings to pair off against each other.
Both teams play fast-paced, attacking rugby and will provide serious value for money.
Sharks will fancy themselves at home against Munster.
Their squad is almost like the South African version of Leinster with the most international representation.
They don’t always gel, and Munster might find a way to disrupt them, but The Sharks have the tools for knockout rugby and should prove too strong at home.
Scotland having both their club teams qualify will certainly raise some eyebrows amidst the restructuring saga in Welsh rugby.
Qualifying both is a real positive, with the defending champions Warriors enjoying a home quarter-final.
The Italian federation has clearly backed Benetton in a two-team system as well, but they missed out narrowly with a defeat to Munster.
They’re a strong side and could well have replaced Munster, Edinburgh and Scarlets, but again, you get what you deserve across an 18-game league.
The top eight will enjoy a weekend off next week that will allow for a thorough and clear strategy heading into the quarter-finals. It will also help the travelling teams to prepare logistically.
The semi-finals and final will then be played off in the following weeks with no break, which is a much more challenging turnaround, especially if away teams win in the quarter-finals.
In an ever-lengthening season, the business end is finally upon us.
Watch the Champions Cup final, Northampton Saints v Bordeaux Begles, on Saturday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
