Brisbane Global Rugby Tens

It might have only been the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens but the heartbreak was real as a last-gasp try from Highlanders winger Tevita Nabura sealed a 12-10 victory at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

The 'Tahs' looked on course to notch the first win by an Australian side over a Kiwi franchise in any format since the opening match of last year's inaugural tens event. An embarrassing 21-0 whitewash in Super Rugby followed.

Dreadlocked winger Alesana Tuilagi gave the Wallabies nightmares in Sydney in 2011 when his massive frame helped power Samoa to an upset 32-23 Test win over the Wallabies.

The Samoan bulldozer was only signed by Toulon this month as injury cover and the Global Tens at Suncorp Stadium on February 11-12 will be an unexpected beneficiary.

The appealing make-up of the Toulon squad and an ACT Brumbies squad with five current Wallabies on deck is the first concrete evidence of the calibre of players flying to Brisbane.