With it all to play for, Gail Davis sets the scene ahead of crucial couple of days in the Guinness Premiership.
It's one game at a time, with futures on the line
You can tell the season is coming to a climax, I'm spending a lot more time in motor way service stations and the rubbish building up in the side door of my car would give any nutritionist a nightmare; it's very much food on the move.
That's because with only two rounds of the Guinness Premiership to go there is still so much at stake, every remaining every game matters. Play-offs, Europe and of course relegation will be decided over the next few weeks and after 20 games, it's still no clearer who will be qualifying for what.
My week began as it will end, at Twickenham. Danny Cipriani, Dom Waldouck and Shaun Edwards, complete with polo shirts done up to the top mod-style, were all in very good form despite it being a Monday morning. London Irish's defeat to Leeds had a lot to do with it; suddenly their play-off destiny is in their own hands and the prospect of playing in front of 60,0000 fans at a ground that has bought the club so many good memories over the last few years wasn't doing their mood too much harm either.
Cipriani and Waldouck have been friends since they met at an Acton swimming pool aged 10 and at times on Monday I had a glimpse of what they day might have been like as they were messing around and laughing like kids. At one point it took Waldouck four attempts to answer a question about how much he'd miss his best mate when he moves to Melbourne: "I really like playing with Danny" was his reply, and then came the abuse and laughing from Cipriani and then, despite thinking really hard about his answer, Waldouck just couldn't formulate a sentence that didn't contain the words 'I like playing with Danny'.
Spotlight
Cipriani is hoping he'll get at least one more run-out at Twickenham in a Wasps shirt after Saturday before he sets off for Melbourne but that will of course depend on the result against Bath a side who seem to be emulating Wasps end-of-season run. with nine wins out of their last 10 games after picking up only one win from their first 10 games, more of them in a moment.
Next my road trip took me to Worcester and to a club on the brink. When Cecil Duckworth took control of Worcester 15 years ago he had a vision to take the club to the top flight of English rugby. His time and huge investment paid off six years ago when the club reached the Premiership but on Sunday that could all come to an end with defeat to Leeds.
The spotlight has fallen on Mike Ruddock who was honest enough to admit: "I got sacked when I was winning a Grand Slam in 2005, it wouldn't surprise me if I got sacked if my team is at the bottom."
In the last three years the club has finished 11th, 10th and 11th, they have never been higher than eighth, so it's not perhaps surprising to see Worcester propping up the table - or that the rumours about Ruddock's future have begun gathering pace. Duckworth says there will be a review conducted at the end of the season and he will take into consideration what the fans want, a quick glance at the message boards will leave him in no doubt they want change. In the meantime the focus is on beating Leeds.
Duckworth is confident Worcester will beat Leeds at Headingley on Sunday and he feels Leeds will survive which by process of elimination leave Sales facing life back in the Championship.
Battle
After Worcester it was a trip down the M5 to Bath for their game against Northampton - what a match! Players and coaches may not like midweek games (two weeks off followed by three matches in eight days isn't the greatest fixture list) but a warm evening at a packed-out Rec, still buzzing from the arrival of it's new owner Bruce Craig, (who I heard more than one lady say has a passing resemblance to Richard Gere), and two teams gunning for a place in the top four all contributed to a cracking game.
I'm not sure there were too many people with nails left at the end, it was a tight finish that Bath won by a point to keep alive those hopes of a play-off place.
It's now knockout rugby for Bath who took a leaf out of the Romans' book and prepared for their next battle with Wasps in the warm mineral spa water that the city of Bath is so famous for. As Olly Barkley pointed out from a pool on the rooftop over looking the skyline the morning after the win over Northampton: "Saturday is our final, if we don't win, there will be no Leeds the week after and no play-offs."
Sportsmen and coaches often use the cliche of one game at a time - never has that been more apt than this weekend in the Premiership.
