SBW is back on the track at long last

Then came the offload. It had to, didn’t it?. He popped the ball majestically to Sam Prattley, and it wasn’t his fault that the replacement Blues prop butchered a certain try by not shifting it on. Soon after there was another princely offload to Matt Duffie that all but put the speedster away.

In the end Williams couldn’t conjure the score his Blues so desperately needed, but the snapshot was so enticing it will be hard to wait seven days till next week’s clash against the Hurricanes on Eden Park. But enough about SBW. There was plenty more on offer elsewhere in a high-tempo, highly entertaining contest. The halfback battle alone was almost worth the price of admission. What a contrast in styles it was between the speed and precision of Aaron Smith and the power and pace of Augustine Pulu.

Both imprinted themselves on this contest admirably, and in their own styles.

Smith is in the process of refinding his mojo and rebuilding his confidence, and seven rounds into this season he looks well down that path. He’s not quite Warren Gatland’s ‘‘most influential player in the world’’ but is a long, long way from the shell of a man who masqueraded through the back end of the international season in 2016.

Pulu, too, is trending in the right direction. With Tawera Kerr-Barlow bolting the Mother Ship, the power-packed Blues No 9 has an ideal chance to force his way into the All Blacks pecking order, behind Smith and the terrific TJ Perenara.

There’s been a bit of talk that Highlanders centre Malakai Fekitoa might find himself usurped by Blues wunderkind Rieko Ioane. But not on what we saw in this stirring contest.

Ioane struggled to imprint himself upon the game while Fekitoa had a huge game for the Highlanders. He scored a try, carried with gusto and was defensively on point. He looks to be back right near his best.