Two teams with nothing to lose. An attacking intent by both sides. A relatively calm Wellington night.
Put that together and free-flowing stuff is usually delivered.
That is what happened in Wellington on Saturday night as the Highlanders and the Hurricanes managed to dish up 93 points, with 11 tries between them, in an entertaining encounter.
The Highlanders came racing out of the blocks and had their four-try bonus point by halftime, when they led 32-13.
They hung on to win 49-44 as the Hurricanes finished the better team though, once again, the Highlanders did not help themselves by having two men, Aaron Smith and Bronson Murray, yellow-carded.
But hold on they did. They managed to score one more try than the home side and in the end, that was the difference.
The Highlanders did not have a lot of ball and when they had the chance, they took it. So often this season that has not been the case. A line break has come to nothing.
But on Saturday night, when the Hurricanes defence was broken it usually led to some movement on the scoreboard.
There was tough commitment from the forwards, who contested everything at the breakdown, while the backs managed to find the space, and held on to the ball much better than any other time this season.
The Hurricanes looked good when going forward but their ball possession was average at times and their season is ending like a damp squib.
They had a mountain of possession, and had to make only 54 tackles compared with the Highlanders' 171. But they took too long to get going and their defence was poor at times.
The Highlanders scored some nice tries, none better than the first which started behind their 22m line.
Colin Slade found some space when surrounded by Hurricanes defenders and he found winger Hosea Gear, who weaved his way 50m down the field. When he was lowered, he passed to Tony Woodcock, who found No 8 Mose Tuiali'i to dot down.
The best individual effort came from winger Kade Poki just on the halftime hooter.
Poki ran round Hurricanes fullback James Marshall, and then put the speed on to kiss goodbye to the covering defence and score.
Gear also nabbed a nice try midway through the second half, showing his speed and how he will be missed when he heads overseas.
Others to impress were Slade and Poki, while young loose forwards Elliot Dixon and TJ Ioane got through plenty of work on attack and defence.
They combined to score the last try for the Highlanders with a quarter of an hour left and in the end, that was the difference.
Super 15
The scores
Highlanders 49
Mose Tuiali'i, Tamati Ellison, Aaron Smith, Kade Poki, Hosea Gear, Elliot Dixon tries; Colin Slade 3 con, 3 pen, Hayden Parker 2 con
Hurricanes 44
Ash Dixon, Ben Franks, Julian Savea, Chris Smylie, James Broadhurst tries; Beauden Barrett 5 con, 3 pen
Halftime: Highlanders 32-13.
