The DHL Stormers snatched a Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final berth from the jaws of defeat to maintain a wave of momentum that has carried them to within a touching distance of the title.
An 85th-minute Warrick Gelant try and Manie Libbok’s nerveless winning conversion earned the Stormers a 17-15 victory over Ulster in the Final Four last weekend, and their 10-match winning streak could yet end in silverware should they add an 11th on Saturday.
Despite being one of the last two sides standing in the competition, John Dobson’s team were not spared the struggles experienced by all of the South African franchises on their initial northern hemisphere tour at the start of the season.
However, after losing to both Benetton and Munster in their opening two fixtures, the Stormers actually left Europe with the best record of the four sides, having picked up a 20-20 draw at Edinburgh before beating the Dragons 24-10 in Newport.
Their first home match of the season ended in a 37-19 defeat to the Emirates Lions, but they followed it up with a 30-26 win against Saturday’s final opponents, the Vodacom Bulls, in Pretoria.
A 22-22 draw with the Cell C Sharks in Durban preceded a 20-10 home win over the same opponents a week later, while they got their revenge over the Lions with a 32-10 victory in Johannesburg in February.
The return of north-versus-south fixtures got off to a rocky start for the Stormers, beaten 19-17 by Connacht in Galway having led 17-7 as the match approached the final quarter.
However, they piled on the points in 55-7 and 40-3 victories over Zebre Parma and Cardiff respectively. Those wins kicked off a winning streak that remains intact, although Ulster – who came agonisingly close to snapping the run on Saturday – fell narrowly short of doing likewise in March, as they suffered a 23-20 defeat in Cape Town.
The Stormers overcame the Ospreys with a degree of comfort before edging the Bulls 19-17 at home in a match that perhaps offers the biggest clues as to how the Grand Final might play out - the hosts holding on for victory after Elrigh Louw's late converted try.
They then saw off Glasgow Warriors and Leinster, but their route through the play-offs remained unclear when they travelled to Llanelli for their final match of the regular season against the Scarlets, forming part of a five-way race for second spot.
Results elsewhere went the Stormers’ way and, as well as clinching the South African Shield, a 26-21 victory at Parc y Scarlets guaranteed them home advantage through to the semi-finals should they make it that far.
A battling 28-17 victory over Edinburgh was followed by Saturday’s box-office late triumph over Ulster, meaning a season highlighted by the try-scoring exploits of Leolin Zas and the emergence of rising star Evan Roos could yet end in team glory for the Capetonians, who will host the final after Leinster's elimination.
DHL Stadium has already witnessed its fair share of drama this season. Saturday promises to deliver a thrilling final act.