The Highlanders performed the worst of the New Zealand sides at the Brisbane Tens during the weekend but will not be too down about it.
The side never trained for it — not one player likely to line up for the starting side in its first competition game in less than two weeks’ time was sighted — and there were some mysterious refereeing decisions.
Winning the Brisbane Tens is hardly splitting the atom. Good on the Blues for winning the title — they beat the Hurricanes 10-7 in the final — but in terms of the season, and the Super Rugby competition, it is meaningless.
The tens tournament sits with that game of cricket that was played on the snow and ice somewhere in Europe last week — a sideshow with very limited appeal.
The Highlanders had their chance to make the playoffs.
The side racked up a win and a loss on the first day of the competition on Friday.
It beat the Waratahs 12-10 in a close-run thing and earlier had gone down 17-12 to the Chiefs, though it should have been awarded a try near the end of that game to at least draw the game.
All the Highlanders had to do to make the quarterfinals was to beat French side Pau on Saturday. Pau had been beaten twice on Friday and looked off the pace.
But armed with New Zealanders, including former Highlanders captain Jamie Mackintosh — who appears to have slimmed down somewhat — Pau played well and was up 17-0 at the break.
Highlanders winger Tevita Li got the green-jerseyed Highlanders on the board but Pau scored another try in the second half to win the match 22-7.
The Highlanders then had to rely on the Waratahs having a blowout loss to the Chiefs but that did not happen and the men from the South were done.
They could sit back and watch the rest of the tournament — they had plenty of seats to pick from in a fairly deserted Suncorp Stadium. The tournament is set for four years in Brisbane but two years in, questions may be asked about its viability.
The Highlanders were scheduled to arrive back in Dunedin early this morning.
They will have a tight turnaround before heading to Waimumu to play the Crusaders on Thursday in the final warm-up game of the season.
The side will play the Blues in the season-opener at Forsyth Barr Stadium on February 23.