Opinion - Congratulations to Johnny Fa'auli. The Chiefs midfielder most definitely took the lead in the race for the dumbest play of the rugby season last night, when his shoulder connected with the head of Hurricanes centre Wes Goosen.
Hurricanes centre Wes Goosen gets medical attention after a tackle from Chiefs second five Johnny Fa'auli. Photo: Photosport
It was a sickening, terrible shot. Goosen, who has been plagued with injuries throughout his short career, had his head snap back and consciousness disappear before he'd even hit the ground.
The blatant violence of the act was probably the easiest decision referee Mike Fraser had to make all night, and he had no problem going to his pocket and pulling out a red card.
What was also telling was how the Chiefs' own home fans had no problem accepting and even encouraging the decision.
When the hit landed, there were audible gasps from the Waikato Stadium stands. By the time the third and fourth damning replays were shown, the murmurs we could hear from up in the press box had turned into fully-fledged boos - of their own man.
It would be a meathead move in any game, but the backstory of what had led up to it makes the shoulder-charge even worse for Fa'auli.
This was a Super Rugby stipulation game, in which the Chiefs had to win by a certain margin to get a certain outcome next weekend in the first round of the playoffs.
Sometimes these games make the last round of the regular season absolutely thrilling.
In 2016 the Hurricanes managed to jump from seventh to first on the table in the last weekend, thanks to a big win over the Crusaders and a number of other results going their way.
It's the one counter-argument to criticism of the maligned conference system that actually stacks up, that everything can change at the last moment.
Last night's game between the Canes and Chiefs wasn't going to actually affect anyone else, though. The two teams were going to play each other next weekend no matter what, this was just going to determine whose home ground they would play it at.
The equation was simple: the Chiefs needed to win by 23 points and deny the Canes a bonus point in order to avoid having to travel to windy Wellington and the daunting Westpac Stadium.
It was a tall order. In fact, I'd already heard on good authority what the Canes were planning for halftime entertainment next weekend. But somehow, the Chiefs were looking like they could pull it off after the first half.
That 40 minutes of rugby yielded three tries, a 21-0 lead and complete domination of a Canes team that looked like they'd spent their Friday afternoon at the pub.
It was all on for the big win, and a shock return to Hamilton by a Chiefs' side that had rested All Black stars Damian McKenzie and Sam Cane.
Chiefs' Johnny Fa'auli leaves the field after getting a red card. Photo: Photosport
However, the Canes did wake up and score a couple of tries, making the score 21-14 and probably killing off the chance of a big Chiefs' win. But they kept going for the impossible target, which makes what Fa'auli did so much more ridiculous.
It came in the 62nd minute, so the time to actually pull off the margin of victory they needed was at about a critical level. What's even worse is that Chiefs stalwart Liam Messam was about to stride on for what he knew would be his last-ever game on Waikato Stadium.
There were a shade over 17,000 people in that should've been giving him a standing ovation, instead they were booing Fa'auli off the field.
After that, it was obvious that the Chiefs weren't going to be able to get the points needed.
The cruel irony was that the remainder of the garbage time that played out yielded three more head knocks: Finlay Christie, Luke Jacobson and Tiaan Falcon all had their bells rung for no good reason, because the actual result by then was completely irrelevant.
It would've been far more sensible for both sides to have organised an informal truce and just play force-back till the final whistle.
Fa'auli should be suspended for a while for the shoulder charge, but hopefully it's noted that idiocy was a key factor. The Canes' official Twitter account couldn't help itself, with a very understandable response:
Why did you delete this tweet @Hurricanesrugby ? #CHIvHUR @ChiefsRugby pic.twitter.com/Cm75vZOQWy
— Quadzilla (@76erscuts) July 13, 2018
In the end they deleted the tweet, which isn't the first time they've done that this year in regards to a match with the Chiefs. Unlike when they conflated the Taranaki Land Wars with rugby, no one is likely to be mad at them at all for the one about Johnny Fa'auli.
