Super Rugby

The former All Black must have been pulling out his scraggly dreadlocks on Saturday night in the coaches box as he watched his young side capitulate at Suncorp Stadium, only to come back and snatch a late draw at Suncorp Stadium.  

The replacement halfback dived over in the dying stages of a great contest at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning (NZ time) to snuff out a late Jaguares comeback in front of a sold-out crowd of around 24,000.

In control at 23-14, the Chiefs were staring down the barrel after a gutsy home side came roaring back.

Despite fielding a supposedly depowered back three and the absence of two key forwards, the Highlanders notched their fifth win in seven matches over the New South Welshmen, though not before the concession of three tries in eight minutes set up a frantic climax at Allianz Stadium.

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.

The blame for the terrible mis-matches foisted upon us in Super Rugby must be assigned to the same bampots from Sanzaar who agreed to the fruitcake competition draw many of us are still trying to comprehend.

In a rematch of last year's Super Rugby title-decider, the 25-year-old's angled kick from just outside the 22m line gave the champion Highlanders their first win of the season, while leaving last year's runners-up 0-2 and under pressure after two rounds. "It was a good game, wasn't it? Just lucky we managed to pull through at the end there," Highlanders captain Ben Smith said pitchside.

A dominant Brumbies scrum shoved the Waratahs pack over the line for a penalty try in the 68th minute to set up the win before replacement back Nigel Ah Wong added a last-minute try to blow out the scoreline at Canberra Stadium.

As Cory Jane tells it, it was once the position you get shunted to "when you're a little kid and got no skills."

Even at Super Rugby level wing is sometimes the ideal out-of-the-way spot to put someone with athleticism, but no real aptitude for catching, passing or directing play.

This year Waisake Naholo wants to rewrite the script, and finish what he started.

What began so promisingly last year ended in disappointment from a personal rather than team perspective for the Highlanders star.

As fans try to digest the ramifications of a competition that has been expanded to 18 teams and a conference system that now takes in the far-flung destinations of Asia and South America, it seems the one constant with the international bookmakers is that a New Zealand team will lift the title.