What a highly satisfactory night that turned out to be.
Just 10-6 up early in the second half, and with the Western Force hard on their line, the Hurricanes hardly seemed destined for a big bonus-point win.
But by the time the final whistle blew at Palmerston North's CET Arena on Friday night, the Hurricanes had emerged 41-6 victors.
It was a tough old slog for a while, before the home side kicked away late to record a rather impressive result.
"To get a win and a bonus point was the first objective," Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said.
"We were a little bit scratchy at halftime [leading 10-3]. We'd put a lot of effort in and hadn't quite nailed it off, but we had a good feeling that if we kept possession for periods of time and kept asking questions of them that, in the end, we felt the gates might open which they did."
The Force are a fair side and, arguably, deserved to be ahead at halftime. The Hurricanes had been reduced to counterattacking, which was how captain Dane Coles announced his return from a three-week injury layoff in the 26th minute.
Coles had first five-eighth Beauden Barrett kick for touch, instead of goal, in the hope of setting up a lineout drive. The Hurricanes twice mauled their way over for tries against the Blues the previous week and the Force must've expected similar.
Instead a neat lineout move saw Ardie Savea peel around from the tail and pass to Coles, who wriggled his way over.
It wasn't dissimilar to a move the Brumbies called against the Hurricanes in week one of the Super Rugby season and a smiling Coles said they maybe owed the Brumbies one now.
"We just felt that we could have a crack and we weren't going to lose out too much if we didn't score and luckily it came off. It's always nice when those little special moves come off," Coles said.
The skipper was subbed in the second half after copping a whack on his tailbone. Second five-eighth Ngani Laumape has a bicep problem, otherwise the Hurricanes emerged largely unscathed.
From 10-6, tries to James Marshall, TJ Perenara, Blade Thomson, Laumape and Ardie Savea secured a more than comfortable win.
Laumape's try was a highlight. Back in his home town, after a mixed stint in rugby league with the New Zealand Warriors, this was his first time playing on this ground since 2011 and his Palmerston North Boys' High School team's annual grudge match against Feilding High School.
"Last year was a tough year for me [after an Anterior Cruciate Ligament rupture], being away from family and being shown the door from the Warriors," Laumape said.
"But I had a dream to come back home and I always told myself that I would return back to rugby union and what happened tonight is just a great feeling and I just really enjoyed it."
The Hurricanes now have a two-win, two-loss record and should register another bonus point when they host the Kings at Westpac Stadium on Friday.
"We've really enjoyed coming here to Manawatu to play and it's great to play in the provinces, but we're also pretty keen to get home to the stadium in Wellington and carry on our form there," said Boyd.
If they can get parity up front and some freedom for forwards such as Ardie Savea, Vaea Fifita, Victor Vito and Blade Thomson to run, then the Force won't be the only Super Rugby side that find the Hurricanes a handful this year.