University A's campaign is at a critical juncture.
A win over Dunedin at the University Oval tomorrow will keep the students' semifinal prospects alive.
A loss could prove terminal.
The top three sides - Southern (51), Harbour (50) and Taieri (46) - enjoy a healthy buffer and, with six rounds remaining, appear guaranteed to make the semifinals.
Dunedin is in fourth place with 37 points, while University is in fifth place with 33 points.
The outcome tomorrow could determine which team gets the final semifinal berth.
That was certainly how University was approaching the game, coach Rahul Das said.
''It is a big game. If we want to reach that top four, this is the week to do it for us,'' he said.
''We want to take matters into our own hands and not rely on other results. That is how we see it and how we will prepare for it.
''[If we lost and] results go our way we could sneak in. But we don't want to focus on that too much.''
Das said his side trained well on Tuesday and was looking ''sharp and focused''.
''We were quite disappointed with the way we played against Pirates. That performance didn't reflect our desire to be in the top four, so we had a good look at ourselves and had an honest sort of a debrief.''
University's 18-11 win over Pirates might not have inspired much confidence but the team has shown glimpses of its potential this season.
It led Harbour by 10 points before eventually losing 38-31 last month.
It also pushed Taieri very close in round six and was competitive against Southern.
''It has been encouraging. We've put ourselves into positions to win game but have not been able to close them out.''
The earlier game against Dunedin was a prime example. Dunedin won 24-23 but trailed University 13-9 at the break.
Dunedin produced an excellent second-half effort.
The Sharks held on to the ball for long periods and University helped out by conceding ''too many penalties''.
''That game was the start of a steep learning curve for us in terms of changing our structures . . . and valuing the ball more. If we would have kept the ball longer we would have probably won that game.''
