It might not have had any bearing on the final standings, but the Queensland Reds have landed a psychological blow ahead of the knockout stages by defeating the Brumbies 26-7 in Brisbane.
The Brumbies, who progress straight through to the final on September 19 in Canberra by finishing first, will now have two weeks to sweat over the defeat.
They will take on the winner of the Reds (2nd) and the Rebels (3rd), who sealed their maiden Super Rugby finals berth by claiming a dramatic 34-30 win over the Western Force which saw Dave Wessels' men climb ahead of the Waratahs on points-differential.
But anyone thinking that the Battle of Brisbane need only look at the respect the Reds paid the Brumbies by landing three penalty goals and, later, the frustration on the face of recalled Test star Tevita Kuridrani who slapped his hands together in anger midway through the second half after spilling a poor pass from playmaker Bayley Kuenzle.
The Brumbies threw plenty at the Reds for the majority of the second half, but halfback Tate McDermott sealed the deal for the home side with a runaway try in the 76th minute as Kuenzle spilt a high ball.
The win helped ease the pain from their heartbreaking loss to the Brumbies last month when Mack Hansen slotted a penalty after the siren to seal a 22-20 win.
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Tight-head prop Taniela Tupou was a standout for the Reds, while outside centre Jordan Petaia and McDermott were both exceptional.
For the Brumbies, loose-forward Pete Samu was one of his side's best.
But the reality is the Brumbies were nowhere near their best and dropped a lot of ball.
Samu scored on the stroke of half-time to give the Brumbies some hope after the Reds raced out to an 18-0 lead through taking their chances and taking the points on offer.
The Reds looked dangerous right throughout the opening half and opened up a big lead.
Captain Liam Wright and Chris Feauai-Sautia crossed for tries in the opening 40 for the Reds, while James O'Connor kept the scoreboard ticking over by adding two penalties.
The Brumbies appeared destined to hit back midway through the first-half, but recalled Wallabies centre Kuridrani lost control of the ball in the process of grounding it after some late pressure from McDermott. It was an embarrassing blunder from a seasoned Wallaby who was hoping to make a statement upon his return to the side after being left out for the past two weeks.
Reds centre Hunter Paisami made a successful return off the bench in the second half coming on for Petaia.
But there's little chance the 22-year-old will come in ahead of his teammate for next week's preliminary final.
Petaia looked lethal with every touch and continually looked to keep the ball alive with his silky offloading game.
The Reds will head into the final as strong favourites against the Rebels, who earlier snuck into the top three with a dramatic win over the Force.
As for Dan McKellar's Brumbies, it's their second loss from their past four outings and he will have two weeks to get his side firing again after a patchy past month.
AT A GLANCE
QUEENSLAND REDS 26 (Wright, Feauia-Sautia, McDermott tries; O'Connor 1 con; O'Connor 2 pen) bt BRUMBIES 7 (Samu try; Kuenzle con)
