Super Rugby

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.

The man who scored the first points in professional rugby is about to embark on a personal crusade to prepare Samoa to enter Super Rugby.

Alama Ieremia is about to begin his first full year working as director of coaching for Samoa and coach of the country's national rugby side. 

The one-off clash is being used as preparation for next month's Pacific Challenge in Fiji.

Potu Leavasa is in his third year coaching the A team and said it's a different feel this time around with more players being brought in from outside of Samoa.

Samoa A take on the Super Rugby team in Melbourne, and are using the match as preparation for next months Pacific Rugby Challenge in Suva, which will feature A teams from Tonga, Fiji and Japan.

A Samoan team played the Western Force two years ago in a similar clash, going down 54-12 in Perth.

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.