Chiefs lock down Tigers, centres face-off & final-day permutations

First things, and next things, first.

It was a stellar weekend with an average winning margin of fewer than seven points across the five games, only a sliver of the scoreboard between the teams throughout and leads swapping hands more frequently than a professional dog walker.

Fears of a few weeks ago that the top-four race could fizzle out into a procession, and Bath and Northampton might as well be pencilled in for a 20 June final, proved unfounded.

Instead, the top two look distinctly fallible, and the final regular-season round comes loaded with pressure and consequence.

At Sandy Park, Exeter will take on Saracens in a straight shootout for the fourth and final play-off spot.

The Chiefs start the final day three points clear of their rivals. Saracens need to win. A bonus-point victory would assure the Londoners a semi-final place. Even victory without the extras might be enough, though.

In such a scenario, Saracens would have one more victory than the Chiefs - the first tie-breaking factor if the two teams finish on the same number of points.

Exeter would need to take two losing bonus points - one for finishing within seven points and one for scoring four or more tries - to deny Sarries in that case.

Meanwhile, things are simpler at the Rec. Any sort of Leicester win would deprive defending champions Bath of a home semi-final.

One of Sale, Gloucester and Harlequins are going to be without a seat at the Champions Cup table when the music stops.

They have home fixtures against Bristol, Newcastle and Northampton respectively, none of whom have anything tangible to play for. Sale are furthest up the table, but have won once in nine Prem matches since the start of the year.

All five games kick off at 15:15 BST on Saturday. How it ends is anyone's guess.