Liam Messam was at the centre of a spirited physical clash between the Reds and Chiefs in Brisbane. Photo / Photosport
If the pre-tournament messages of top All Blacks playing in the inaugural Brisbane Global 10s were lost in translation (in the end their New Zealand Rugby contracts didn't allow them to), the on-field stuff was delightfully direct and perhaps more engaging than many predicted.
For an example, look no further
than the run by Reds prop Taniela "Tongan Thor" Tupou at Chiefs captain Liam Messam in a quarter-final, a collision for the ages which saw Messam perhaps lucky to escape without a citing for a shoulder charge and 20-year-old Tupou, a 135kg former student of Auckland's Sacred Heart, served with a two-match ban for a headbutt in the resulting melee.
The collision, which saw Messam bounce back a couple of metres but somehow remain on his feet, was one of the more spectacular of the weekend, but several others caught the eye - including from Reds veteran Radike Samu on new Crusaders midfielder Seta Tamanivalu, a crunching tackle which saw the 40-year-old former Wallaby win an award from the tournament organisers.
For a viewer more conditioned to watching sevens than 10s, this is clearly a game which caters for power as well as pace. There is a place for defence as well as attack. It's a game that requires more thinking, too. More decisions have to be made at the breakdown in terms of how many players to send there, and the kicking game - which became more prevalent in the sudden-death matches as bodies tired in the stifling Suncorp Stadium - is more important than in the shortest version of the game.
The extra three minutes a half creates more challenges and, conversely, opportunities. Sevens is probably more prone to serving up freak results than 10s, and we saw several matches in which teams overcame big deficits to win - most notably the Hurricanes over the Force and Samoa over the Blues.
