ULSTER'S late heroics in creating an 80th-minute try and conversion to draw their weekend match against Munster have left Glasgow Warriors having to rethink all their assumptions about their final Guinness PRO12 league match against Ulster this weekend.

They had expected a win would be enough to see them through to a home semi-final, but with three teams now locked on 70 points and Glasgow in the worst position on score difference, they have it all to do against Ulster, who are a point further back, with all the matches kicking off at the same time on Saturday afternoon.

The one to watch is at Thomond Park, where the Munster faithful will be reasonably confident they can hammer out a four-try win that would challenge their rivals in the top three to match them. For the Ospreys, the 26-point advantage they have over Glasgow on score difference means just a win at Connacht would be enough unless the Scots manage the bonus point.

If all three teams gain bonus points, Munster miss out on the home tie because they have won a game less than the other two. Any team that loses is almost certain to find themselves travelling for the semi-finals - though Gregor Townsend, the Glasgow coach, believes that with so little between the sides, it could be the season where the run of nothing but home wins in the last four ends.

It all adds up to the tightest finish to the PRO12 since the play-offs were introduced with all four teams still in with a strong chance of playing the next round of knockout games at home before the winners head for the final in Belfast.

The question for Townsend's team is how quickly can they bounce back from a sloppy performance in Wales where for the fifth time in the five matches they have lost - out of 21 - they failed to collect a losing bonus point. Rob Harley, the flanker is confident there won't be any problem.

"We will be confident, we are going back home to Scotstoun with 10,000 fan behind us making it a real cauldron to come and play in," he said. "We have got a week to look at what we did in Wales and learn our lessons, improve and bring out a good performance next week.

"We made a lot of mistakes, but conditions were the same for both teams and the Ospreys dealt with them better. That is something we have to look at and review, understanding there are not always going to be perfect conditions and we have to know how we are going to play the game when we are given those challenges with the weather."

Meanwhile Edinburgh were given a lifeline into the Champions Cup next season when the Scarlets failed to claim the scoring bonus point against the Cardiff Blues. It's a long shot - the Scarlets would need to get nothing in Treviso while the Scots were claiming five points at home to Leinster - but it's better than no hope at all. If the Scarlets pull clear, Edinburgh can make seventh, and a rematch with Gloucester, with a win

The big worry for Alan Solomons, the head coach, is that after seven matches on successive weekends his side are starting to look jaded. Despite that Stuart McInally, the captain, reckons they are up for a final push: "We have a massive game. Leinster at home, it is a special game. You saw at the weekend what it meant to the Dragons [who beat Edinburgh 19-5] to be playing their last game at home and we will be aiming to do the same next week at BT Murrayfield."