I’m sure when the powers that be set about trying to clear up the confusion and make rugby a more attractive, attack oriented game, they didn’t have 100 plus points tallies in mind.

Article By: Tony Johnson

For just a while on Saturday morning, as a lay in my Dunedin hotel room, I wondered if I’d been transported back in time.

And no I’m not talking about the decor in the Southern Cross...it’s very nice and modern...I’m referring to the Chiefs Lions match.

I’m sure when the powers that be set about trying to clear up the confusion and make rugby a more attractive, attack oriented game, they didn’t have 100 plus points tallies in mind.

The Chiefs set the ball rolling with a quite breathtaking attack from their own 22 right at the outset. The plan seemed to be to try and run the Lions off their feet for as long as possible before the effects of the high altitude took over their bodies, and then just hang on to whatever lead they could muster.

In the end it worked, but only just, as the Lions threw caution into the thin Johannesburg air and came closer than anyone would have dared dream. Had the game gone on for another five minutes the locals may well have won the most unlikely victory since David lobbed a rock at Goliath?

It was spectacular, but was it rugby?

You will have your own ideas, and please let us know by taking part in ReUnions Big Issue, either by voting on this site, or using the interactive or test methods.

To me it’s great to see attack dominated rugby, and the end of the mindless kicking of recent years, but what we saw Saturday morning was surely an over correction. I hope some middle ground will be found and we end up with something halfway between the 6-nil dross of last years Highlanders Crusaders game, and the bizarre 20-20 cricket score line from Johannesburg.

The team that really impressed me at the weekend was the Stormers.

You can only imagine what sort of carnage Bryan Habana could have inflicted had the Bulls given him even half the opportunities he’s now getting in Cape Town, and now we know why he was prepared to bid farewell to the Bulls juggernaut that used him exclusively as a kick-chase/intercept merchant.

But just as impressive was their defence, a wall which the Waratahs could find no way through.

They have an excellent draw, and I’m already starting to have misgivings about leaving them out of my top four predictions.

Same goes for the Chiefs who now have the chance to come home with 13-14 points in the bag. It is worth noting that they have home games against the Crusaders, Bulls and Stormers, which will be crucial to the final outcome.

The race for the top four this year already looks like being one of the most cut throat yet, and after what we’ve just seen, who knows what sort of crazy score lines and upsets we are in for.