Aisle be back: Highlanders wrap, England losing and the bye

What a satisfying win on Saturday night - but before we get too carried away, a couple of things of ponder.

That wasn't the Highlanders of old. Injury hit, they still stuck in the game for nigh on sixty minutes of course - but leaked like a sieve in the end.

But that's not the biggie. Just how would we have gone if the remorseful TJ had ended up with red, not a yellow? As he clearly feared was going to be the case.

I think it would have been a much scarier second half, albeit that the Canes did score a cracking try when down to 14 men.

That's not to devalue how they scorched home with the full 15, but it  does show you that with the new tackle interpretation, every game could  be tilted on its head. Just ask the Chiefs, who had to pull out some considerable stops to survive their red card against the ragged Rebels.

Back to the real world however, and how good was Ardie Savea? He  appeared to be playing all three loose forward positions at one point.

And Jordy the Giraffe put those off-the-bench nerves behind him,and as a starter, was one very impressive performer.

Just imagine the nightmares he and his (shorter) big brother will  unleash on defensive strategies - thanks to their array of clever kicks and line-breaking ability. 

Of course Ngani Laumape turned enough heads for there to even be excitable comparisons to Ma'a Nonu. Steady on!

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Way too many people are naturally reading way too much into England's weekend choke against the Irish that saw their test streak end at 18. 

First things first, credit to Eddie Jones and the players for turning England into the world's ranked No 2 side in such a short time and from the depths of the World Cup embarrassment.  

But post Ireland, are England any worse a team in reality after that one game? Probably not.

Are England guilty of over-rating themselves? Probably not (yet).

Is Eddie Jones gutted that his team finally tasted defeat? Probably not.

And are they as the world No 2 side ready to topple the All Blacks? Who would know; as they say, that's why you would play the game - to find out. So much would hinge on venue, and relative fatigue levels at whatever point in the season it occurred 

But let's not see it concocted up as a one-off money maker by those chaps at Twickenham.

Rather, why not take the idea for future reference. Every year outside a world cup, set aside a clear window for the No 1 southern and No 1 northern test teams to clash. A sort of rugby Super Bowl.

Neutral venue of course. And a 50-50 revenue split. Money will be the winner on the day.

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Back to the Canes, and the perils of the next five matches- or actually the bye, and four matches. 

The opposition are the Reds (away), Waratahs (home), Blues (away) and Brumbies (home, Napier). 

All are eminently beatable - which means these are important matches. Nothing would put a crimp in the season like dropping a game to one of this quartet. 

But come through unbeaten, and that's a great platform to push on for the playoffs. 

Lifelong All Blacks supporter Kev has followed the Hurricanes since they began. Last year his faith in them was rewarded when they won the title – can they do it again?