Joe Tomane delivered an amazing game to earn a hat-trick and secure a semi-final place © Getty Images

Enlarge

The ACT Brumbies have chosen the right time to remind all they have a quality backline and no longer have to rely on that rugby irritant - the driving maul - to accumulate points. And the Highlanders have provided a lesson on how rewards come to those who are outlandish.

In the most rejuvenating of weekends - where all four Super Rugby elimination finalists were eager to show the finest attributes of the game - teams were rewarded for their endeavour.

First up, we had a champagne moment. As one long time rugby scribe text messaged me during the Highlanders-Chiefs game: "I thought I had the remote on fast forward but just realised its real pace! I'm exhausted watching this." Exhaustion of the best kind - but nothing new when observing New Zealand duels this season. So many of them have revolved around 80 minutes of high intensity, high speed football, where the error rate has been surprisingly low. And always the talent level - young and old - has been right up there - which while providing the code with a much needed adrenalin hit should also have those in charge of the Wallabies deeply concerned about the upcoming Rugby Championship and World Cup - because the All Black contingent looks so far ahead of them in so many areas of the game.

The Highlanders responded to the cauldron like atmosphere of their Dunedin home venue, and went immediately into overdrive, counter attacking whenever possible, testing the Chiefs all over the field. The Chiefs refused to hold back either, and were involved in countless breath-taking moments of play. The Chiefs were courageous. The Highlanders brave. The Highlanders won out - and thankfully survive another week.

I sincerely hope those in charge at the Western Force province, and especially those surprisingly patient souls in Perth who follow them week in week out, watched this game. Here was a brutal reminder of how rugby is supposed to be played, and how you have been robbed by the rubbish on offer from your negative, reactive team all year. If the Force board don't now realise that dramatic changes have to be made among those who devise the team's dull tactics or eventually no one will attend their games, then they deserve their own demise.

The Brumbies were also starting to get the negativity jitters in the lead up to the finals, too often opting for the driving maul from a winning lineout as their prime source for points. It was getting to the stage where you expected to sight the Brumbies trainers on field handing out ski parkas to the likes of Tevita Kuridrani, Joe Tomane and Henry Speight to avoid the threat of hypothermia.

But that all changed at Newlands, where the Brumbies, like the Highlanders and Chiefs, went for all-out attack, to the extent that Tomane had little trouble in finishing with a hat-trick of tries. He could have easily ended up with four. It wasn't as if the Brumbies had suddenly barred the driving maul. It was more a case of never being in the position to use it, as they opted against the territorial tactic of kicking into the opposition corner. Instead they attacked more from midfield, and with it soon discovered the Stormers were a bit tardy on their flanks, especially near Tomane's left wing.

His first try came from an excellent chip-kick from halfback Nic White. The next emanated from a Speight tackle that created the turnover in the Stormers quarter, followed by quick hands that again saw Tomane in open space. The third was extraordinary. A back pedaling Brumbies scrum was in trouble - not for the first time in this game - until No 8 Ita Vaea gathered the ball as it squirted out the side. Vaea made a desperate pass to Tomane, who looked cornered by his opposite Dillyn Leyds. That is until Tomane simply fended Leyds off, pushed him away, and again another clear entrance to the try line.

Then there was the possibility of a fourth in the second half, except that during a spectacular leap for the line Tomane grounded the ball short. But still the message was there - the Brumbies backline has been revived. However it appears certain that their finals course will not include Speight. He is facing a lengthy spell on the sideline, because there was no excuse for his off the ball dumping of Stormers centre Juan de Jongh, which led to a red card in the final minutes. It could even see Speight out of contention for the Wallabies' early season Test matches.

This was the only sour moment in an otherwise 'Sweet as' weekend.