Biggest Winners and Losers in World Rugby for Weekend of April 29 to May 1

As Europe's play-off nears its climax and the continent's finest make their final dash for a post-season future, tension across the land builds, and mistakes will be made.

This weekend saw Saracens and Exeter Chiefs take major steps in securing home Premiership play-off places—with the former's actually booked—while the Pro12 order was shaken up after a high-octane round of rugby.

The Jaguares ran riot en route to their second-ever Super Rugby win against the Southern Kings, while Racing 92 gave their campaign a jolt by beating Top 14 leaders Clermont Auvergne thanks to Maxime Machenaud.

We look at all that and more as we break down the biggest winners and losers in world rugby this weekend.

Winner: Benetton Treviso

Benetton Treviso came into Round 21 of the Pro12 season with only three wins to their name, but the Italian minnows made a well-timed run at next term's Champions Cup after shocking title contenders Connacht.

First-half tries from Luca Morisi and Braam Steyn helped book the basement team one of the biggest upsets of the season, with a penalty try in the second period bringing their 22-21 triumph to completion.

As a result, Treviso moved off the bottom of the Pro12 table and a single point above compatriots Zebre, which means they'll play in next season's Champions Cup as long as the order remains that way.

Loser: Premiership's Late Losers

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It was a weekend for late drama in the English top flight as Sale Sharks, Bath and London Irish suffered defeats to Gloucester, Northampton and Harlequins, respectively—losses that were only sealed in the final phases of the game.

London Irish's 32-25 defeat to Quins was particularly difficult as it means head coach Tom Coventry's side are six points adrift at the base of the Premiership with only one round of fixtures remaining.

Coventry described his dressing room as "like a morgue" after the loss, per the Press Association (h/t ESPN Scrum):

"

It's a sad day for the club, the dressing room is like a morgue and it's hard to describe the feeling and it's a tough place to be.

The boys gave everything but we weren't able to keep Quins at bay as they were able to break our defence too easily at times. Before rounds five to six, we were getting trounced, since then we've steadily improved but we haven't been good enough to finish sides off.

"

Greig Laidlaw kicked Gloucester's only points as they finished off Sale 12-11 on Friday evening, and Stephen Myler's late kick bagged a 15-14 victory for Northampton over Bath.

Winner: Leonardo Senatore

The Jaguares made a major statement on Saturday as they trounced the Southern Kings 73-27, and No. 8 Leonardo Senatore took a big share of the spotlight as he became a hat-trick hero.

The Argentinian outfit dispatched their South African opponents with no fewer than 11 tries, a sizeable feat considering the team had scored just three times that amount coming into Round 10.

Senatore was one of four Jaguares players who mauled his way to 50 carrying metres or more in Buenos Aires (66), per ESPN Scrum, making 10 tackles and missing none as the Kings fell to the wayside.

Loser: Fiji's Sevens Opponents

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Fiji's sevens opponents, beware. Coach Ben Ryan bolstered his ranks for the Paris Sevens by calling in five European-based 15-a-side players this weekend, as announced on his official Twitter account.

Glasgow Warriors star Leone Nakarawa stands out as the biggest name of the bunch, but Stade Francais' Waisea Nayacalevu, Toulon's Josua Tuisova, Montauban's Samisoni Viriviri and Toulouse winger Semi Kunatani are also sure to shine.

The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are now just a few months away, and the prospect of seeing Nakarawa, Nayacalevu & Co. suiting up in Brazil is one that should strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.

Winner: Maxime Machenaud

No Dan Carter. No problem.

Even without their star New Zealander, Racing 92 brought Clermont's nine-match unbeaten streak to an end on Sunday, and scrum-half Machenaud was the star man in their 26-20 triumph.

The France international notched seven penalties to go along with Albert Vulivuli's try to see Racing triumph and pull themselves within seven points of the Top 14 summit with four rounds of the normal campaign left.

Toulouse's 12-10 win at Toulon also saw Racing climb into third, level on points with coach Bernard Laporte's side and further within reach of a play-off semi-final.