Referee Angus Gardner during the Super Rugby Pacific match, Hurricanes v Blues. Photo: John Cowpland/Actionpress
Analysis - As entertaining as Super Rugby Pacific has been so far, to the point where some are calling it the best start to a season ever, it's not much fun having a game stopped so a bunch of officials can look at a laptop. But that's what happened last night at Sky Stadium at the conclusion of the Blues' 33-29 win over the Hurricanes.
It's important to note first that while the score line and last 10 minutes do suggest this was a high quality watch, the reality is it wasn't quite at the barnburner levels that we've seen over the last fortnight from the Super Rugby Pacific teams. Ill-discipline was rampant, with ref Angus Gardner whistling up 24 penalties overall and dealing out four cards - three of which overlapped in the first half.
For a while there it felt like Gardner was getting paid to commentate as well, given just how much input he was having.
Harry Godfrey. Photo: John Cowpland/Actionpress
A bunch of people who weren't having as much were the healthy spread of All Blacks across the field. There were plenty of one-liners to be made at Caleb Clarke's expense if he got to show his pace, but they had to wait deep into the second half. Rieko Ioane's contribution was to collect one of the sin-binnings, while Beauden Barrett seems consigned to just kicking the ball back and forth.
The only current test player on the Blues who could hold his head up at halftime was Patrick Tuipulotu, but things changed rapidly when it became clear the Blues needed something, fast. Mark Tele'a's crucial try with 10 minutes to go will be a candidate for the best of the season, but more importantly for Vern Cotter involved all the players above at their absolute best.
Unfortunately for the Blues, rather than a professional closing out of the game, we got the extremely messy situation involving Sam Nock leaving the field for a disputed HIA. That's why Gardner and everyone else ended up huddled around a screen trying to figure out what was going on, before he simply lost patience and got on with the game.
It did lead to the sight of Barrett having to feed the scrum, which adds a humorous dimension to his ongoing positional debate, but just what the Blues were trying to do there should probably come under further scrutiny.
DMac down, Highlanders scrape home and the unlucky Drua
The Chiefs had to put up with a sweltering Hamilton afternoon that saw them defeat the Brumbies 49-34 but will be sweating even more on the fitness of Damian McKenzie. Arguably the competition's most influential player through three rounds, McKenzie limped off the field with 10 minutes to go. Clayton McMillan's side play the Drua next weekend in one of the hardest away trips in rugby, Lautoka's Churchill Park, but with the expected arrival back of Shaun Stevenson this week they should be OK if McKenzie is ruled out.
Speaking of the Drua, the Fijians are winless through three rounds after 29-24 loss to the Waratahs on Friday, but all their results have been decided in the last five minutes.
A lot of the focus of Friday night's game was on Moana Pasifika and the decent crowd they attracted, however it's also important to mention the team that actually won the game. The Highlanders' 31-29 win was built on a very good first half but a very scratchy second, in which they failed to score at all. Still, there was a lot to like about Jamie Joseph's side - despite a late call-up halfback Nathan Hastie was class, Tanielu Tele'a is playing the best footy of his career and Sam Gilbert's goal kicking has been the difference between winning and losing.
Clear your plans for Saturday night, the long-awaited match up between Ardie Savea and the Hurricanes is coming up. The former Canes and now Moana captain said there'd be a target on his forehead once the ball is kicked off, but if he can put in another gigantic shift like he did against the Highlanders, it should be a great watch.
