Wayne Pivac has won one of the more significant championships of his long coaching career.
After three NPCs with Auckland (1999, 2002-03) and the RWC Sevens in 2005 with Fiji, Pivac can now count the 2016-17 Guinness PRO12, won last season by Pat Lam's Connacht.
Scarlets took the final, their second PRO12 title, in brilliant style too, 46-22 over Munster, who were the form team all season. Johnny McNicholl operated well from fullback, while Hadleigh Parkes added value and experience off the bench. Lions Jonathan Davies (13) and Liam Williams (14) both played well, with the latter scoring the Scarlets' opening try off a crosskick.
"It's down to hard work. We work on a lot of basic skills, catch and pass, being able to do that under pressure," said Pivac, who has one more season to run on his contract, and might just be an option for a Super Rugby franchise from 2019.
"You can see that we have props, loose forwards, second rows, passing and catching under pressure and exploiting those wide channels when we've got the ball in the middle of the park. We have players with a lot of X-factor, but it's about getting them the ball going forward. It's been a lot of hard work on the basics."
It was not such a good day for Munster centre and former All Black Francis Saili, who was exposed defensively on more than one occasion by the likes of Davies. First five Tyler Bleyendaal was tidier, scored a try and kicked his goals, while replacement hooker Rhys Marshall set up Andrew Conway with a nice draw and pass in the second stanza.
Exeter Chiefs have won England's Aviva Premiership title, their first at this level in their long, 146-year history, by beating top qualifiers Wasps 23-20 in the decider at Twickenham.
Lions wing Jack Nowell opened the tryscoring for the Chiefs, who now stretch their unbeaten run in the Premiership to a record 17.
Lions tourist Elliot Daly scored a try for Wasps, while player of the year Jimmy Gopperth added 15 points, including a try, from second five. Nathan Hughes was at No 8 for Wasps.
But the match was a triumph for 34-year-old Chiefs No 8 Thomas Waldrom, who has again proven popular with fans. He has known plenty of finals heartache with Wellington (2003, 2007, 2008-09) and the Hurricanes (2006), not to mention Leicester, though he did taste Premiership success with the Tigers in 2013. Now he is again a champion.
Northampton will play Champions Cup rugby next season, the Saints edging Stade Francais 23-22 at Franklin's Gardens. Former Steelers fullback Ahsee Tuala scored the critical try, in the 73rd minute, for the win, all the more meritorious as they were down to 14 men after the sending off of Tom Wood. Nafi Tuitavake was at centre for the Saints, while Teimana Harrison was in the No 6 jersey.
Clermont and Toulon will contest the French Top 14 final this weekend.
In the semifinals, held in Marseille, Clermont ended Racing-Metro's dreams of defending their crown with a 37-31 win, sealed by a late try to No 8 Fritz Lee. Clermont now have a chance to go one better than they managed in the Champions Cup final a fortnight ago.
Dan Carter kicked four goals for the Parisians, but No 8 Chris Masoe, now 38, had an eventful last match before retirement, copping a yellow card, scoring two tries and being accorded the honour of kicking the final conversion. Prop Ben Tameifuna also scored a try, while Joe Rokocoko, Casey Laulala, and Nafi Tuitavake were also involved.
Toulon, minus Ma'a Nonu, defeated top qualifiers La Rochelle 18-15, to reach another decider. It was heartache for Victor Vito, Uini Atonio, Jason Eaton and Hikairo Forbes.
Leigh Halfpenny slotted five penalty goals for Toulon, but should miss the final (barring a late intervention by owner Mourad Boudjellal) as he will be flying out with the Lions tonight.