Trawling through the wreckage of last night's defeat, the Hurricanes will find two gems ready to emerge all the stronger for the chastening experience of being humbled by the Crusaders.
Having seemingly had their names drawn out of a hat to go on last year's All Black tour, Jason Eaton
and Isaia Toeava are proving every bit as good as the test selectors assured us they were.
Last night, Eaton faced his toughest challenge yet when he had to front up to Chris Jack.
Plenty of promising young locks have pitted themselves against Jack in recent years only to melt into their boots and be confined to a dark room for days afterwards.
Not Eaton. His shock of blond hair was still fizzing round the place late into the game. Jack bothered him in the lineout early on but once Eaton settled, he was able to jump above the turbulence and claim his share of ball in clean air.
What impressed most, though, was the way he cantered like a man six inches shorter and 10kg lighter. There were two memorable occasions where outside backs broke free and it was the galloping Eaton they found on their shoulder.
"I think he is only going to get better and better," said Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper of Eaton.
The same was pretty much true of his fellow All Black rookie Toeava. When the youngster made his All Black debut at Murrayfield, he was clearly nervous, serving up plenty of bad to offset the good.
But last night, he played with an assurance that was calming for those in front.
There is definitely magic in Toeava's boots, as he showed with one searing run midway through the first half that almost saw him blast through a gap only a ghost would have the nerve to tilt at.
They talk in Wellington of building a Hurricanes dynasty. These two men will, in time, be at the crest of that yellow wave when it crashes into Super 14 some time in the next couple of years.
-HERALD ON SUNDAY
