Aisle Be Back: Hurricanes v Lions

Above: Hurricanes lock Vaea Fifita had a barnstorming game against the Lions

These early morning games out of Africa are a bit of a challenge. Especially when you're a Sky refusenik.

I've been a Sky refusenik since realising about a decade ago that the 1000 dollar a year fee was all that was standing between me and an enormous property portfolio. I am now pleased to say that in another decade or so, I will be rich enough to afford to get Sky again.

So that's why at 4am last Sunday I was gently manoeuvring my laptop into position (to avoid waking Ms Kev), and gingerly logging in to Rugby Planet to catch the second half action from Joburg. 36-5! Well, you know it was worthwhile screwing up your sleep pattern when you read that score.

If you've ever chosen to or had to follow games on Live Scoring you'll know it's got its own weird tempo, made better or worse by the quality of whom or whatever is doing the tracking.
Occasionally you strike roboscorer, where honestly, there appears to be some alien life force parroting rugby phrases. A clean break there. The Xs have hit 40 mauls so far. The Crowd Goes Wild as X scores.

Even with a human commentator, it is probably never going to be Cricinfo. There are some very long pauses, where you are left wondering what happened after that 5m scrum. Or lineout. Other times, the pace is not too far off a game pace.

The worse thing is that you can't really feel the game's ebb and flow so much. And when it's a close one, the tension of waiting for updates is much, much worse than watching live. At least you can yell at the TV. Try yelling at a computer screen.

My oddest ever internet watch was when I was in a very sunny Florence,  Italy, in an internet café and trying to follow the infamous Fog Final. I didn't have a clue what was happening. Then again, neither did anyone in New Zealand.

+++++

The worst thing about that great win over the Lions was that it might start putting us back on a few radars. It's felt like the Canes are slipstreaming nicely, winning mostly and clearly building on performances in a pretty consistent fashion. I still read commentators who consider only the Chiefs or Crusaders are going to be at or near pole. I figure for the Canes, the longer that goes on the better.

I reckon the Lions were leg one of the trifecta before the next bye. The Sharks are the second most difficult challenge, and then we've got the Reds at home. Go into the bye with two more wins, and it's a great place to be for the largely home derby run-in.

The Sharks won't be easy. They're built on defence, won't chance their arm much, and will give us less to feed off. It'll be a good test and let's hope the boys approach it with their feet on the ground.

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I must say Reggie Goodes' try was the scoring highlight of the match. The only thing better was watching Dane Coles' facial expressions as he followed the big fella's barnstorming run down the wing.  He can't, he can't, he can't, bloody hell he just did.

As for the other highlight (Matt Proctor aside) what about JuhLIAN SuhVEEuhhh. That was a priceless commentator's enunciation of the Bus's name in his brace of tries. JuhLIAN SuhVEEuhhh, champion of the wooooorld!

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Thank heavens Scrumgate is - I think - over.

If it was a cunning ploy by the Chiefs, then what genius to find yourself with only 14 men for the last minutes of the match against a pretty lethal backline.

Of course, Rennie and co had calculated the wind in the stadium would carry Beauden Barrett's final pass just out of reach.

That's how clever they are.

As a Hurricanes fan, you must of course never, EVER forget Scrumgate.
It must be wheeled out wherever and whenever  is appropriate. such as the next time we get the Chiefs' eight on roller skates. Hopefully that will be this season.

Kev has followed the Hurricanes since they began. He has a season pass. Every year he predicts the Canes will win Super Rugby. He refuses to be called a long-suffering fan.