OPINION: As a Canes fan, their 83-17 win over the Sunwolves was hard to watch.
I should have been delighted at the sight of Julian Savea bumping off players at will and his brother Ardie almost single-handedly dominating the Sunwolves pack.
I should have loved seeing my team rack up nearly 100 points in their opening clash, the same point at which in 2016 we were taught a lesson in a 52-10 drubbing to the Brumbies.
Instead, I was saddened and disappointed in what Super Rugby has become.
Super Rugby used to be the competition where the best and brightest stars would meet their worthy opponents. And we'd see enjoyable and absorbing clashes worthy of such.
But there was nothing enjoyable about Saturday's match.
At points, it looked like men playing boys and with all due respect to the Sunwolves, the side presented nothing justifying their presence in Super Rugby apart from the full stadium.
Revenue from the broadcast rights has warranted their inclusion. But in Sanzaar's endeavour to build Super Rugby as a global product, Sanzaar has - at the same time - weakened it.
Weakened it with half-cooked expansion plans in regions that don't sync up with the competition for the sake of some dollars in the corporate coffers.
I agree with the premise that our responsibility as the world's premier rugby nation is to grow the game.
But at what cost?
There was once upon a time when the whole rugby world tuned into watch the Super Rugby, other than just the nations involved such is the case with the likes of England's top tier the Aviva Premiership and France's Top 14 competition.
With more mismatched games like the Hurricanes and Sunwolves, that's unlikely to be the case in the future.
