And just like that the Super Rugby Pacific regular season is over.
In Round 16 there were wins for the Crusaders, Reds, Moana Pasifika, Chiefs and the Force, with Tana Umaga's side bowing out of the competition with an inspiring and emotional win.
MIXED FINAL WEEKEND REFLECTS A DISAPPOINTING AUSTRALIAN SEASON - THAT WILL END THIS WEEK
Barring a sporting miracle of epic proportions, Australia's Super Rugby campaign won't extend beyond Saturday's qualifying final between the Chiefs and the Reds.
By the time that game kicks off in Hamilton, you can take it as read that the Brumbies will already be on their way back to Canberra, confused by a season that could have delivered so much more.
Why the pessimism, when the two Aussies teams are through to the playoffs, you ask? Because no Australian team has ever won a finals match in New Zealand in 21 attempts.
Could this year be different? On the strength of what we saw in Round 16, there isn't a hope in hell.
While the Reds eventually saw off the Fijian Drua on Friday, they were given a huge leg up midway through the second half when the visitors, with all the momentum behind them, curiously decided to take a penalty goal, rather than kick for touch to launch another attacking raid.
When Kemu Valetini pulled the 40-metre shot wide, the Reds wrestled back the momentum and then powered up field to score through Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson, and Queensland were never headed thereafter.
On Saturday, the Brumbies appeared to be cruising towards victory when they led Moana Pasifika 14-0 after only 16 minutes. But a yellow card to veteran James Slipper shifted the momentum, and gave the visitors the chance to launch a comeback that would eventually yield an emotional 21-19 win. Given what they have been through in recent weeks, you couldn't not feel a little bit teary for Pasifika - and this was a win they so richly deserved.
Not for the first time for an Australian franchise this season, the Brumbies' problem was their lineout, which was at times on Saturday nothing short of comical.
ACT lost five lineouts on their own throw and gave up a further short-arm penalty for a baulked throw, hooker Billy Pollard enduring a torrid afternoon that can't have gone unnoticed by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.
Indeed, the Brumbies saved their worst performance of the season for the final round, rounding out a regular season when they were beaten at home by the Reds, Waratahs, Drua and finally Moana Pasifika. Those defeats undid their good work in Christchurch and Dunedin, and at GIO Stadium against the Blues and Chiefs.
The Brumbies will be little more than canon fodder in Wellington. And judging by how easily an understrength Chiefs team eviscerated the Blues, the Reds won't fare any better in Hamilton.
So while the Australia interest in Super Rugby Pacific will extend for one further week, you shouldn't expect it to last any longer - Australia's collective finals record in New Zealand will be 0-23 by Saturday evening.
LINEOUT A HUGE CONCERN, RESTARTS MIGHT BE JUST AS WORRYING
The Reds' lineout has been an issue all year, not helped by the prolonged absence of Josh Canham, while the Waratahs too struggled periodically at the set-piece, NSW down to their fourth-string hooker by the end of the year. The Brumbies wobbles came later in the year, while the Force were Australia's shining light at the lineout, with Jeremy Williams in outstanding form throughout the regular season.
A Wallabies lineout pairing of Williams and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto appears likely for the first Test with Ireland, with Exeter's Tom Hooper another option, or even a potential No. 6, while Brandon Paenga-Amosa might have his nose in front at hooker.
There might be a functioning lineout in there yet.
But another area of concern that has plagued Australia's four Super Rugby teams all year is the restart - each of the Waratahs, Brumbies, Reds and Force have been guilty of immediately squandering the momentum after scoring points themselves.
Certainly, both the Force and Waratahs were guilty of it at HBF Park in Perth on Saturday night, with Matt Philip's misjudged leap giving winger Dylan Pietsch the half-chance he needed to get the hosts into the match after NSW had built a 13-0 lead.
The coordination of the lifters and jumper needs dramatic improvement across the board in Australia - good news is they'll likely have plenty of time to remedy it as spectators of the final two weeks of the Super Rugby finals.
WHAT NOW FOR PASIFIKA PLAYERS?
As mentioned above, Moana Pasifika richly deserved their win over the Brumbies, particularly given they were down a man for 28 minutes, after Faletoi Peni received first a yellow- and then later a red card.
Moana had shown glimpses of their best throughout the season, but they had failed to string it together for the full 80 minutes since their Round 1 win over the Drua.
While New Zealand's Minister for Foreign Affairs Winston Peters last week indicated there was "good news" coming for the franchise, it's safe to say they won't be in Super Rugby Pacific next season.
So what becomes of their squad? Skipper Miracle Fai'alagi will have multiple suitors and is poised to cash in on his talents through Japanese rugby; there is no reason for Fai'ilagi to stay in New Zealand given he is a Samoan Test international.
And it could be a similar situation for Australian Patrick Pellegrini, who is already capped by Tonga. It may be that Pellegrini draws interest from Australian franchises - the Waratahs could yet be an option for the former West Harbour playmaker - but his earning capacity would also be far greater in Japan.
But one player who is yet to play Test rugby is winger Israel Leota, who produced multiple stunning finishes across the season, none better than his efforts against the Reds in Round 15.
The former Brisbane Broncos squad member would be a welcome addition across any of Australia's four franchises and given he his not yet capped at international level, a more attractive recruit than Pellegrini.
GORDON'S ACHILLES INJURY CLEARS WAY FOR LONERGAN
The pain was immediate for Jake Gordon, so too the realisation that his season was over.
Gordon fell to the ground and immediately clutched at his Achilles a couple of minutes before halftime, the scrum-half could be seen saying "na, it's done, it's done" when talking with medical staff.
Gordon has enduring a frustrating season with injury but was still likely to be Schmidt's man for the Wallabies' July campaign, at least to begin with, despite the sparkling play of Brumbies halfback Ryan Lonergan.
In fact, so good has Lonergan been this season, there was a groundswell of support for him to be the first-choice No. 9 ahead of Gordon, with Tate McDermott filling his customary impact role off the bench.
So while Gordon's injury is a brutal blow for a much-loved player of the Wallabies setup, the injury may have spared Schmidt a difficult choice at No. 9.
