The Highlanders are still in the Super 15 playoff picture but will need a major form reversal and then hope other results go their way.
Four teams are in effect chasing the final two positions in the six-team playoffs, although the Crusaders, sitting on 53 points, are not completely over the finish line in securing finals rugby.
What is apparent is the equation of who, what, where, and when for teams in the finals will become much clearer after this weekend's games.
The Highlanders are sitting in eighth position on 45 points, four points behind the sixth-placed Bulls, and it is a long stretch for them to make the playoffs.
It would have been so much easier for them if they had beaten the Lions and Force in the past two weeks but that horse has bolted.
What the side firstly must do is win its remaining two games - against the Waratahs in Sydney this Saturday night and the Blues in Auckland on June 17.
They may not even need a bonus point in these games, though it would be preferable.
That, though, is not going to be easy, especially after disappointing performances in the past two weeks.
But if it does happen then Jamie Joseph and his side must hope other games go their way.
By beating the Waratahs, the Highlanders would put the Australian side more or less out of playoff contention.
The Highlanders will then have to hope that the Sharks and the Bulls lose matches.
One thing is sure - one of them is going to at least lose once as the two sides clash at Pretoria on June 19.
The Bulls' other game is a tough match against the Stormers in Cape Town this weekend.
Conceivably, the Bulls may not get much beyond their current 49 points.
The Stormers won the first-round battle between these teams and should be favoured to win again, as they return to Newlands after being on the road for a month.
The Sharks have a slightly easier road home, having to travel to Johannesburg this weekend to face the returning Lions, who have just spent the past month in Australia and New Zealand.
They may be coming back to their home ground but they have been abysmal in Johannesburg.
They have not won a game there in the Super rugby competition since beating the Highlanders in May 2009, losing the last 14 games in a row.
Their three wins this year have all been away from home.
The clear advantage is with the two South African sides as they have their destiny in their hands.
The Waratahs are sitting in a reasonable position, facing a slumping Highlanders team at home, and then finishing with another home game, against the disappointing Brumbies.
If teams are tied on points at the end of the competition, the team with the most wins goes through.
If teams are still tied then the team with the highest points differential in the competition will go through.
Super 15 playoffs: the run in
Fourth: Crusaders, 53 pts, Blues (h), Hurricanes (a)
Fifth: Sharks, 51 pts, Lions (a), Bulls (a)
Sixth: Bulls, 49 pts, Stormers (a), Sharks (h)
Seventh: Waratahs, 47 pts, Highlanders (h), Brumbies (h)
Eighth: Highlanders, 45 pts, Waratahs (a), Blues (a)
