By teatime on Saturday the lineups for the play-offs should be settled. Saracens, Northampton and Leicester are already there, even if only Saracens know where their semi-final will be played. Harlequins and Bath are left to go head to head for the final spot.
There is plenty to ponder even before Stuart Lancaster brought England speculation centre stage again by announcing the raft of players who would not be among the 40-plus going to New Zealand this summer.
This though is not an attempt to nudge the selectors' elbow or suggest how England should be thinking.
It is more a reflection on five players from those five clubs mentioned above who came to the aid of their teams during the season, settling a few jitters among their directors of rugby on the way.
They are hidden heroes, if you like, although some of them are suddenly in the limelight.
1 Dave Ward
Probably Harlequins third-choice hooker at the start of the season, he is now being now mentioned as a possible tourist with the injuries to Dylan Hartley and Rob Webber casting doubts on the Northampton and Bath men, while Tom Youngs is understandably staying at home to care for his ill wife.
"Much travelled" is a euphemism that could have been coined for Ward who touched base at Bath, Gloucester, Sale and Northampton before settling at the Stoop after a 100 games with Cornish Pirates. They may have taken some time to find each other, but it was a marriage made in rugby heaven. Quins and Ward are right for each other.
His set-piece work, particularly throwing in to the lineout, has improved massively, but it was always his mobility, his ability to make turnovers and particularly his ball-carrying that would have attracted Harlequins.
Add Ward to forwards such as Nick Easter, Joe Marler, Chris Robshaw and Luke Wallace and you have the armoury to play how Quins director of rugby, Conor O'Shea, wants. In short, Ward has a good rugby brain and quick wits – look at the final try at Exeter last weekend – making up for a possible lack of bulk.
The bonus for Ward is that with David Paice also struggling for fitness, the man Harlequins signed to fill a hole left by injuries, could be on his way south.
2 Owen Williams
Although he was possibly third choice with Scarlets last season, he is now giving Toby Flood plenty of time on the bench at Leicester. Williams may not be planning a summer with Wales in South Africa, but he's done a job for Leicester's director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, and when Freddie Burns puts on a Tigers shirt next season it won't necessarily be as the first-choice No 10.
Leicester spotted Williams when he put a hatful of points on them in an Anglo-Welsh cup. He was signed to fill the gap caused by George Ford's move to Bath and has slotted in seamlessly and in that way which appears to come naturally to anyone moving to Welford Road.
3 Ollie Devoto
On the opposite side at the Rec on Friday was Ollie Devoto, another academy product and another with Cornish Pirates links, who won't be 21 until the start of next season, but who has already played full-back, fly-half and, last Friday against Northampton seven days' ago, inside-centre for Bath.
Last season his promotion to the first XV was helped along the way by the injuries suffered at the Rec. On FridayLast week he replaced Kyle Eastmond, twice capped by England, who didn't make the match-day squad. Alongside Devoto was Jonathan Joseph, already an England player, and with Sam Burgess an expensive arrival from rugby league in Australia this summer, the Bath midfield is clearly an area of considerable competition. Who partners fly-half Ford? Eastmond with a similar skills set to the outside half or Devoto, a more orthodox centre who is good defensively, distributes well, is sharp off the mark and, importantly, has a good kick?
4 Jackson Wray
Recent memories of Wray are painful – the back-row forward scored three times against Worcester last Saturday, helping to seal our fate along the way – but it shouldn't disguise long-term admiration for a good example of what Saracens are about.
Another academy product and another of those Saracens – like Owen Farrell, Duncan Taylor and Mouritz Botha – who got valuable game time with Bedford Blues.
This season he stepped up after injury to Ernst Joubert, but with the technique and physicality, he could be a European champion by the end of the month.
5 Alex Waller
Another being mentioned as a possible tourist in the continued absence of Alex Corbisiero. Waller, the loosehead prop, has replaced the injured Lion at Northampton all season. When Jim Mallinder saw Soane Tonga'uiha go to Racing Metro in the summer, the Northampton director of rugby probably calculated that Waller senior (there are suggestions that younger brother Ethan might turn out even better) plus the recently signed Corbisiero would share the burden. Instead Waller has been ever-present and has done a sparkling job for his boss.
It's not been easy and Waller is clearly still learning – he had a difficult 15 minutes against Davey Wilson at the Rec last Friday – but the future looks bright for a product of the Northampton Academy. That is if his brother doesn't get in the way.
