We’re here. The penultimate week of the URC season. For many Welsh rugby fans it will come as a blessing.

During one of the most tumultuous periods in Welsh rugby history, Cardiff, Dragons and Scarlets go into the final two games of the season knowing there is little more to play for than a fight to avoid the ignominy of being Wales’ bottom most region.

So far there is some symmetry in the sides, three teams, three wins each in the URC this season.

Ospreys however, have been the outlier, still with an outside hope of reaching the play-offs, and with it Champions Cup qualification, sitting 11^th, eight points behind Benetton with two games remaining and a maximum of 10 points available.

After beating Stormers in April, Ospreys’ top eight hopes seemed back on track but after conceding 18 tries in their last two games, coupled with other results going against them, they now face an uphill task to reach the play-offs.

Benetton in particular have pulled off a string of impressive results, taking two bonus points from their trip to Ulster before consecutive wins against Dragons and Sharks in South Africa.

“The win against Sharks was one hell of a result from Benetton,” said Wales and Ospreys legend Shane Williams on this week’s’ Sportin Wales podcast.

“When the pressure’s on, knowing they probably have to do it and the manner in which they did it is fantastic.

“I really enjoy watching Benetton play, they’ve got a cracking backline, the plays and the calls they’ve got, the confidence they’ve got to move the ball from everywhere they’re a joy to watch.

“If they do it and make the top eight, then they deserve it.”

The current picture reads thus, with each sides fixtures also.

6^th Ulster 49 points

Leinster (h)

Munster (a)

7^th Edinburgh 48 points

Munster (h)

Benetton (a)

8^th Benetton 48 points

Bulls (a)

Edinburgh (h)

9^th Connacht 44 points

Stormers (h)

Leinster (a)

10^th Lions 44 points

Glasgow (h)

Stormers (a)

11^th Ospreys 40 points

Dragons (h)

Cardiff (n)

Therefore, should Edinburgh, Benetton and Ulster all win this weekend then Ospreys’ top eight ambitions will be over, regardless of their result against Dragons.

However, should qualification go down to the final game they will have the benefit of knowing other teams’ results before they face Cardiff and therefore what they require.

Dragons on the other hand will be hoping to complete the double against Ospreys this season, but the hosts will take reassurance they have scored 12 tries in their last two home games against Saturday’s opponents.

Also on the podcast this week was Sportin Wales co-founder and Ospreys wing Alex Cuthbert who admitted Benetton are now the “favourites” for play-off qualification, along with giving his assessment on Ospreys’ top eight hopes.

“It’ll be massive if Ospreys can get top four,” said Cuthbert.

“The boys had an absolute tuning from Mark Jones, the defence coach, showing clips of boys not quite putting the effort in where we’ve set our standards all season which is why we’ve put ourselves where we are and we’ve dropped significantly.

“We were in the top four defensive teams but we’ve dropped significantly in recent weeks, and momentum’s not really with us, going into derby games which are not really easy.

“If we lose to Dragons on Saturday, they’ve done the double over us and I can’t imagine that’s happened to many times at Ospreys.

“We’ve got a standard and that’s where the boys will have to get back to this weekend.

“I can see Edinburgh getting a result against Munster, all of the teams have a tough run-in but the key game will be how many points Benetton can get at Bulls.”

With Dai Flanagan already stoking the fires suggesting his side would be out to spoil Ospreys’ ambitions, get ready for a cracker of a game at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday which is available to watch live on Premier Sports where Williams will be on co-commentary duty.