It was only 30-20 at half-time in Dunedin. The Highlanders were in the mix. But in the second half they were blown away by the Blues. And then we got the quintessential crazy end to Super Rugby Pacific action.

Look at all those offloads. Look at all those turnovers. Look at how short the advantage was. Look at how much running was needed…

And in the end, no try was given because while Billy Harmon hacked it on to reclaim – before he threw the superb flick pass to Martín Bogado to romp in under the posts – the match officials saw on replay that he had knocked it on.

As former All Black nine Justin Marshall said in live commentary as the try was reviewed: “I am thinking to myself, ‘why bother?’

“It’s not going to have any effect on the game, apart from the fact that poor old Martine Borgado might not get a try to his name on his debut!”

Have you ever seen an end to a match quite like that?

Blues smash Highlanders in Super Rugby Pacific

It was a one-sided affair, though. As friend of Rugby World, the New Zealand Herald’s Liam Napier wrote, we saw that “the gulf in talent was brutally exposed”.

Eight tries for the Blues, two to the Highlanders. A whopping 750m with ball in hand for the visitors, with 11 clean breaks. Woof.

After one round of Super Rugby Pacific action, the Blues are sitting top of the log, with a points difference of +40. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are in second place, after their 47-13 win over the Queensland Reds in Townsville.

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