If ever there was a case needed to get rid of some Australian teams from Super rugby, then the prosecution delivered its star piece of evidence last night.
The Highlanders ran all over the rabble that was the Rebels at Forsyth Barr Stadium, winning 51-12 after leading 20-0 at the break.
The home team also grabbed its first try-scoring bonus point of the season.
The Highlanders scored six tries — all converted — and were far too good for the Rebels.
The Southerners drownedin ball at times and had numerous chances to clear out and stack the points up. If it had all gone smoothly and they had brought their A game to the gunfight, the Highlanders could have threatened three figures.
The Highlanders stuck to the game plan of kicking the ball back to the Rebels and that is all they had to do against a Rebels team that made error after error.
The Highlanders cleared out after leading 23-0 shortly after the break and went further ahead when Richard Buckman took a quick tap kick 8m out and bullied his way over the line.
The fourth try came when flanker Gareth Evans ran a nice line from a Marty Banks pass and scampered 20m to score.
Malakai Fekitoa scored his second try after another error from the Rebels — a wayward pass was intercepted by the big centre and he ran 35m to the line.
Replacement hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate scored the last try after the hooter went when he ran on to a ball and showed some speed to score.
Best for the Highlanders were the midfield duo Buckman and Fekitoa, while No8 Luke Whitelock showed plenty of strength on both attack and defence.
The Highlanders’ set piece was excellent and enjoyed dominance right through the game.
The Highlanders made all the running in the first half and were up 20-0 with just over a quarter of the game gone.
The intensity from the Rebels to start with was on a par with what you get from an uninterested secondary school futsal referee.
On attack — which in the first half was not often — the Rebels lacked accuracy, while the defence was lax and was asked to do too much.
The Rebels were soon made to pay from a Highlanders side that was sniffing blood.
The first try came after 12 minutes and it was thanks to the boys up front.
The Highlanders scrum just marched the visitors off the ball, grabbing a tighthead. The ball was shifted to second five-eighth Buckman, who pushed through a gap and off-loaded to his midfield colleague Fekitoa.
He went route one straight to the line and scored under the posts. Marty Banks added the conversion.
Five minutes later and the Highlanders were in under the bar again.
After the ball was rolled up the field through a series of charges, it came to lock Tom Franklin.
He put on an outrageous twirl that would not look out of place at the Bolshoi Ballet, creating space for himself.
He then simply passed the ball to captain Whitelock and the stand-in captain went under the bar.
Super rugby
The scores
Highlanders 51
Malakai Fekitoa 2, Richard Buckman, Gareth Evans, Luke Whitelock, Greg Pleasants-Tate tries; Marty Banks 5 con, 3 pen; Fletcher Smith con
Rebels 12
Tom English, Reece Hodge tries; Hodge con
Halftime: 20-0 Highlanders
Crowd: 13,365