Moana Pasifika head to Eden Park on Saturday seeking to build momentum with an unprecedented third successive win in Super Rugby Pacific when they take on the Auckland Blues in a home-town derby that could prove pivotal for both teams' seasons.
With All Blacks enforcer Ardie Savea leading the line, the once-struggling expansion side have racked up 90 points in back-to-back wins over the Canterbury Crusaders and the New South Wales Waratahs.
Knocking on the door of a top-six spot, Auckland-based Moana can put themselves firmly in the playoffs conversation with a first win over the Blues while dealing a potentially decisive blow to their opponents' fading title defence.
However, Vern Cotter's Blues (2-5) are unlikely to roll over against a team they have smashed by an average margin of more than 20 points across their four previous matches.
Marshalled superbly by Beauden Barrett, the Blues scraped a one-point win over the Wellington Hurricanes last weekend but remain second bottom, two places behind Moana, at the halfway mark of the season.
The Waratahs are another team feeling the heat ahead of a visit by the leading Waikato Chiefs on Friday.
Although unbeaten at home and sitting sixth with a 4-3 record, the Waratahs shipped more than 100 points across back-to-back defeats to the Hurricanes and Moana.
They will need to break an eight-match losing streak against a Chiefs team who have passed all tests this season barring an away defeat by Fijian Drua a month ago.
Waratahs coach Dan McKellar demanded more physicality from his Wallabies-laden team whose improvement on a dreadful 2024 has been played up by home media.
"As much as you guys and others like to talk about it being a superstar side and all that sort of carry-on, the reality is there's not a whole lot of cohesion amongst the group, the staff and everything," he told reporters.
"So we're getting there slowly but we want to see a response on Friday."
The seventh-placed Hurricanes will hope the Waratahs stumble again, though, as they prepare to host Rob Penney's Crusaders at Wellington Regional Stadium on Friday.
The Crusaders stormed into the top two with a big win at the Drua last week and may need another to prevent the Queensland Reds from snatching back second spot.
The Reds (5-2) have upstaged the ACT Brumbies, traditionally Australia's strongest side, in the first half of the season but will find out where they stand when they host them at Lang Park in the late match on Saturday.
The Reds exited Hamilton last week bruised and beaten by the Chiefs and face Stephen Larkham's rested Brumbies without the injured Wallabies duo of loose forward Harry Wilson and winger Filipo Daugunu.
With their playoffs hopes rapidly fading, bottom-placed DruaDrua travel to Dunedin in search of a second win when they take on the ninth-placed Highlanders.