A 2001 trip to Fiji, as described by one subscriber, would have been when Nemani Nadolo was a teenager. Her worst memory of that weekend was coming up on the scene of an accident where a young kid was badly injured.

While some things have changed since then, other things hold true. They still drive like maniacs in jeeps with bull bars around bumpy mud-soaked roads, I’m reliably assured.

One (old, jaded, European) former resident told me bull bars are necessary there because “they go flying at funny angles when you catch them on the half volley. Queenslanders call them roo bars.”

Apparently the kid was tall, around what would have been Nadolo’s age, and his arm and ribcage were in need of urgent treatment – something Steve Hansen assures us is at hand at all times in those parts.

We can only assume he got some. Whether he went on to become a rugby superstar we’ll never know because she wasn’t told his name, so I’m just assuming he did because it appears a significant plurality of his compatriots do so. It was on the southern Viti Levu coast between Suva and Nandi, so he probably knew Nemani well.

I wonder sometimes why young giants almost always remain such good people as they grow. In Fiji it’s no mystery, they have rugby, but big men everywhere do tend to be gentlemen. That’s until they get on the field, and a certain tedious rule about picking on people your own size is rescinded.

No one puts size to effective use like Nadolo right now. The sight of the huge Crusaders wing brushing off none other than Blues flanker Blake Gibson in Addington on Friday was exciting enough, but it was only a prelude to the biggest cheer in Super Rugby so far this year.

Gibson was one of last week’s stars with a powerful display in the Blues’ opening win but he was dismissed with a shrug by Nadolo, who was returning a poorly conceived clearance and just beginning to pick up speed.

Thirty yards downfield, meanwhile, gulping down some quickly-evaporating saliva and trying to keep his eyes from betraying utter terror was Blues fullback Matt Duffie, returning to top level rugby after a leisurely interval in Australia playing another sport.

Nadolo had clattered over Gibson into open ground and was coming straight for him, and we’ll never know whether Duffie’s adrenalin-soured spit made him retch just before impact or the tightening of his sphincter was so pneumatic it suddenly propelled him upwards. However, for some reason the makeshift fullback flinched at the last second and got half volleyed about as far as any kangaroo on the back roads after a particularly hot happy hour in Bundaberg.

It was greeted with the fervour the Crusaders will need from their fans to kickstart this year’s campaign. They were outscored by the Chiefs backline last week after dominating them up front, so this week were resolved to make their wealth of possession count. They began with a demolition of the Blues scrum, bringing them a penalty try, but for three-quarters of an hour afterwards they couldn’t turn another trick.

Prop Joe Moody and blindside Jordan Taufua went closest, both held up over the line, but it wasn’t until Nadolo gave a remedial lesson to NRL-convert Duffie that the backline got rolling.

I’m not saying league players can’t tackle. I’m just saying if you’re a league player who can’t tackle, Super Rugby is no place to hide.

A try to Kieran Read in the opposite corner a minute later was pay-off for Nadolo’s shattering of the Blues’ defence. The visitors thought to have pegged a late consolation when left wing Tevita Li crossed late, but over-optimistic catch-up rugby hurt them immediately when Crusaders first five Richie Mo’unga intercepted for a 28-13 final score.

One-sided statistics suggest the home side might have run up a much bigger number if they’d capitalised more ruthlessly, but five points are five points.

The Chiefs couldn’t match last week’s defensive intensity and let the touring Lions beat them 31-36 in Hamilton. Tainui made the usual big deal about being dominant tribe in the franchise by getting some of their heaviest eaters to wardance beforehand – suggesting that you don’t come to Cowtown expecting a free lunch I’m guessing – and that was typical of some not very intense pre-match celebrations that were politely applauded by a small, confident crowd.

What we can never fully know (and this is true of most high-scoring games) is whether the eight tries were the result of poor defence or great attack. They tend to go hand in glove, and you usually make your final judgement based on whether or not you come away thrilled or disappointed. In other words, whether your team wins or loses. If tackles weren’t broken it would be wrestling, not rugby.

The Lions attack was rugged and persistent. Number eight Warren Whiteley was as dynamic a force as always in the captain’s role, and right wing Ruan Combrinck broke an incredible six tackles for well over a hundred running yards and a try. Hooker Malcolm Marx and left wing Courtnal Skosan were the other Lions try-scorers. Skosan skinned his opposite Latu Vaeno badly, this being the only instance when someone didn’t actually lay a finger on the man beating him.

But the Chiefs scored four of their own to flanker Tom Sanders, fullback Damian McKenzie, wing James Lowe and replacement half Brad Weber. They were in good position to close the game out when they went ahead in the second half after the McKenzie and Lowe tries.

This was when they needed to shut up shop and flood the tackle area. Narrow leads are not to be squandered with tails-up party rugby, they’re meant to be built on with a maintenance of the pressure that produced the lead in the first place. One role of the captain is to enforce team discipline, another is to organise defence at the point of play.

The Chiefs seemed to think they could offload their way past a team it had taken them an hour (and a tight five yellow card) to lead 25-24. Whiteley knew that knocking enthusiastic ball loose and transitioning quickly to attack would surprise a team shaped to continue offloading, and that in scoring positions they should aim their most well-balanced runners straight at the smallest targets.

But Warren Whiteley is one of the best captains in the world. The Chiefs are running a Bay of Plenty-Waikato hybrid co-captain system, presumably because Sam Cane can’t handle the duties single-handedly.

As the Lions arrived in Hamilton with a win in Tokyo under their belts, I had already begun to wonder about local standards in leadership. Whiteley’s try was through weak defence close to the ruck on the blind, precisely where goal-line tacklers should be numbering up. Then the on-fire Combrink sidestepped the two smallest backs on the field in succession when he should have earned double-team status by half-time.

At least Brad Weber’s sneaky late try beside a ruck earned a bonus point.

The remaining New Zealand fixture was a rematch of last year’s decider, the Hurricanes travelling to Dunedin and hoping to arrest the slide that began in that very game.

We watched the Hurricanes last year with delight as they jinked and swerved, throwing behind-the-back passes and Hail Marys on their way to a record-breaking regular season, only to melt like over-heated solder in the final. We’ll never know what Jerry Collins might have said to them this off season, by way of congratulations, if the tragedy of his death hadn’t clearly exhausted their emotional resources. They were running on instinctive fumes in those 2015 final rounds, ready to burst against the first impenetrable wall they faced and Jamie Joseph knew it. The speed wobbles had been showing for weeks.

He knew, too, that they were probably still fragile in 2016, and especially after that disgrace in Canberra.

So he ran the same plays that had worked in the 2015 final, with the same players using the same strengths. Run it back at them remorselessly from the back with Ben Smith, discouraging any long kicking game. Run it up hard in midfield with Malakai Fekitoa, forcing them to commit to the middle of the park. Run it close to the rucks undemonstratively, keeping possession under tight wraps.

In other words, precisely what Dave Rennie would have been groaning into the bench’s earpieces as his players misread all the Lions’ second half threats.

But the Hurricanes had improved hugely on last week’s humiliation. They were not guilty of the same mistakes like giving away possession needlessly, neglecting pack unity, rushing up disjointedly, fanning ludicrously in anticipation of God knows what. They presented a rather disciplined front. Flanker Ardie Savea was a whirlwind of multi-focused energy, disrupting, stealing possession and carrying tirelessly as the two sides collided.

Both defences were rock solid.

Fekitoa’s breach of the Hurricanes tackle-line for the only first half try was orchestrated by first five Lima Sopoaga, all-round hero of the opening forty minutes. He confidently forced the goal-line defence to converge, and given a bit of space Fekitoa is as hard to stop five yards from the line as he is impossible to predict from a further fifty.

Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara brought the visitors back into it with the second half’s only try, diving over beside a ruck.

It had taken immense patience and continuity from both teams to work their way into strike positions, and more of the same to get their rewards. With the Hurricanes leading by two points the match was on a knife edge.

Clinically, the Highlanders squeezed, initially to no avail. Camping in the Hurricanes 22, they failed in successive attempts to ground the ball over the line. Fekitoa came closest, appearing to have scored against the goalpost padding after one of his most determined charges, but the TMO couldn’t say the dark, fleeting evidence provided by some excellent camerawork was conclusive.

The pressure forced a penalty, however, and Sopoaga’s replacement Hayden Parker coolly stepped up to stroke it through from thirty yards out. This gave the home side a 17-16 lead which they held confidently by playing at the right end of the field until the hooter. They calmly applied defensive pressure.

The Hurricanes, lethal from anywhere last year, had no option but to kick as the Highlanders tightened the screws.

(Image: AAP)

The Canberra game was interesting – if you like mixed martial arts performed by guys who have no business attempting it. Worried by what they’d seen the Brumbies do to the Hurricanes in Round 1, the Waratahs clearly thought their best chance was to niggle their way under the skin of the early front-runners and hopefully profit by the rulings of a relatively inexperienced referee.

Marius van der Westhuizen wasn’t gullible. Sin-binning both New South Wales locks before half-time for cheap shots and high tackling, he also spotted all their fight-starting facials and shoves, then disallowed a late Waratahs try for jersey-pulling.

The Brumbies are one of four teams with two wins from two matches. Both wins were comprehensive home victories against 2015 conference winners. The Sharks and Stormers both have two wins, one home and one away, but the Stormers have beaten two high veldt sides while the Sharks have faced two competition newcomers.

This makes the Lions, with two away wins after punishing west-to-east flights, genuine early contenders. Under the coaching of Johan Ackermann they finished mid-table in 2015 and were arguably unlucky to miss out on the finals. I’m thinking of a string of Stuart Berry decisions against them at Newlands, allowing the Stormers to salvage a draw. But exactly why referees are so easily swayed by crowds is just another of those things we’ll never know.

In the final weeks, if they’re competing for another play-off spot I for one won’t be surprised. Johan Ackermann is clearly someone to watch next time they’re looking to replace the Springbok coach.

Super Rugby results Round 2
Brumbies 32 Waratahs 15
Reds 6 Force 22
Bulls 45 Rebels 25
Cheetahs 10 Stormers 20
Sharks 19 Jaguares 15