With a potentially large television audience watching on Sky TV, All Black captain Sam Cane showed some good hustle on cover defence and in tight for his comeback game, but he was never going to fix the defensive lapses elsewhere.
Cane's departure in the 57th minute, coupled with back-to-back Whanganui tries to take the score from 20-13 to 34-13, saw a noticeable exodus from the stands and around the ground with local punters heading to the parking lot or the bar.
Giving the 74-test veteran's presence, it is all the noteworthy to say that Jamie Hughes, followed closely by captain Campbell Hart, were the best loose forwards on the paddock – Hughes work-rate being absolutely sensational.
Hooker Roman Tutuaha and lock Josh Lane can be proud of their shift, while try-scoring No8 Semi Vodosese might not resemble Sir Colin in appearance, but his one-handed running bursts were shades of Pinetree.
Fullback Craig Clare and winger Alekesio Vakarorogo worked well in connection down the far touch, while first-five Dane Whale had full control in the final quarter to find his runners with smooth passes.
In a proud moment, Ezra Malo came on for his Whanganui debut - less than four-and-a-half years since father Ace Malo played his last Whanganui game, with Ezra's younger brother Cruz wearing that jersey.
Best of the locals was unquestionably second-five Sio Tapili, using the breeze for some fine line kicks in the first half, and always trying to manufacture opportunities without momentum in the second.
Losing reserve loose forward Leveson Gower to the sinbin late in the piece killed any chance of salvaging a bonus point.
Looking a massive remaining four games against opponents all still in contention for the silverware, Whanganui coach Jason Caskey was pleased that the side is slowly running itself into form.
"Probably starts have been hurting us a little bit.
"Four or five penalties, and I think we gave away four in the first 7-8 minutes.
"It's exactly what we talked about before the game; it lets them off the hook and puts all the pressure on us.
"The intensity was there though. The warm-up was really good and the intensity was there, so you work around those things and once you settle down.
"Once we could hold a few phases, we looked a hell of a lot better."
While there had been a little bit of eye-rolling about his inclusion during the week, the side had not over-thought the 'Cane factor' and played to their game-plan.
"That's what we said – things don't change that much, one guy can't fix all the problems, especially [stopping] the backline," said Caskey.
"The opportunities that were there from last week were still going to be there, so you just might have to be a little bit smarter to find them."
Hart felt the same, while humbly accepting plaudits for the performance of himself and Hughes.
"We were just doing our job out there and trying to hustle - we knew there was someone good in the breakdown so we had to get there and drop extra hard.
"There was more motivation for us than [facing Cane]. We lost the 'Log' last year and we haven't played the best rugby, so we just really focused on us and dropping our penalty count and avoiding turnovers.
"We were into the wind, so you expect [King Country] to do well in that half and to score a couple of tries.
"We haven't played the best rugby the last couple of weeks, but we could only take a step forward today, and we achieved that."
Whanganui 48 (Peceli Malanicagi, Semi Vodosese, Kieran Hussey, Dane Whale, Alekesio Vakarorogo, Kameli Kuruyabaki, Timoci Seruwalu tries; Ethan Robinson pen, 3 con, Dane Whale 2 con) bt King Country 13 (Bradly Jeffries try; Sio Tapili 2 pen, con). HT: 15-6.
