Seventeen rounds down, one to go and it all comes down to this. I don’t know how we get ourselves in to these situations but last match and we need to win.

If we win with a bonus point we guarantee at least seventh place – with that comes Champions Cup Rugby next season and a place in the quarter finals of the URC (albeit an away match)

If we win without a bonus point we will need to see the outcome of the Stormers v Lions match to see if we finish seventh or eighth.

If we lose against Benetton with a losing bonus point or try bonus point we will again be watching for the Stormers v Lions result to see if we finish eighth or ninth.

If we lose with no bonus points the results of the Lions, Connacht and the Ospreys all come in to play and we could potentially run the risk of finishing as low as eleventh.

I think that is all correct, no doubt someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

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Eighth place means a place in the playoffs but no Champions Cup Rugby next season as the Sharks have taken that final place by winning the Challenge Cup this season.

So now all the permutations are out of the way what do we really need this week. We need everything the guys can give. Our performance last round against Munster was a real step up and despite losing I was proud of the team. They fought with everything they had and were so close to drawing or even beating Munster.

Munster are not top of the league for nothing, they have been outstanding in the second half of the season so to get as close as we did was testament to how well the team played.

I like the fact that it is in our own hands to do this too. If we win with a bonus point we come at least seventh. No one can challenge that, it’s in our hands. Other scenarios do rely on other results but the most straightforward outcome simply relies on us.

Looking back over the season there have been some solid performances - we beat Ulster away from home, we beat Glasgow at Murrayfield, we beat Cardiff away too and the Bulls at home. But there have also been the hiccups – losing at home to Benetton, allowing Ulster to pick up 2 losing bonus points in the last seconds of the match and getting nothing from our trip to South Africa at all. Its been a season of highs and lows.

While I am the eternal optimist I do have a streak of reality in me. It’s been a much better season than last year, that is unquestionable, but there is still a long way to go. This season we have started winning, we weren’t winning much of anything last season. This season we have won 11 matches, Munster are top of the table and they have only won 12. Getting in the routine of winning is the first step.

Scotland Rugby News: Glasgow's Ross Thompson

We had an announcement this week of Ross Thompson coming over to us for next season. This season I believe Ben Healy has played more minutes than anyone else in the URC so it is nice to get some experienced back up for him. I am a big fan of Cammy Scott at 10 and I believe he has a big future but having back up like Ross to give Cammy more time to develop I believe is a good thing. Ross has only been announced as a one-year contract but as we have seen with Ali Price it may develop in to more, that remains to be seen.

I’m confident Sean has a long term plan in mind and with that plan in motion we will start to see stronger and stronger results to come.

But anyway enough about next season, we still have this season to finish. A strong result against Benetton and we will be in the quarter finals and who knows semi final and final could still come. I’m still keeping the faith.