Editorial: Giants gone but footy carries on

The Hurricanes celebrate after Beauden Barrett scores during the Canes' 35-10 victory over the Crusaders in Christchurch over the weekend. Photo / Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Some of us not enamoured with catching Pokémon managed instead to catch the Hurricanes' clash with the Crusaders at the weekend.

We were glad we did.

This time last year no one would have predicted a Hurricanes team - sans the talismanic duo of Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu - could have muscled its way into a home quarter-final.

But that's where we're at.

The Canes' shock demolition of the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday saw us leap from seventh to first in the overall standings - and in six days' time the men in gold will square off against the Sharks in a mouth-watering fixture in the capital. As captain Dane Coles said yesterday, "the rugby gods have definitely been on our side".

We could well see a repeat of last year's final where the Wellington-based team were pipped at the post by the Highlanders.

The beauty of that possibility is that again we'll see the country's (if not the competition's) two "people's teams" do battle. It'd also be incredible given that the fragmented conference format is anything but easy to understand, yet here we are with the distinct possibility of it whittling down to a rematch.

If I were being charitable, I'd say this country can already claim much of the competition's spoils. Because with all four Kiwi teams in the quarter-finals (maybe this time next week all four in the semifinals), the result as it stands today is already a runaway success for New Zealand franchises.

Hence, those who bemoaned the mass exodus of marquee All Blacks after last year's World Cup win have been given some fresh perspective.