Former British & Irish Lions and England centre Jeremy Guscott admitted to pangs of jealousy when watching last week's Eden Park contest between the Blues and Hurricanes in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Watching 40,000 people enjoying themselves while viewing rugby in action looked strange when locked down in England.
"I have no idea when we will see scenes like that again in this hemisphere, especially in the UK," he wrote in his Rugby Paper column.
"As far as the rugby spectacle was concerned we saw plenty of things we've come to expect from skilful, accomplished New Zealand players, and the rules introduced for the tournament produced a lot of food for thought – especially at the breakdown," he said.
Guscott said the policing of the breakdown had been a long time coming and he believed clarity in that area should never have been eliminated from the way the breakdown was refereed.
"We have listened to referees telling players they are infringing, and then doing nothing but warn them, for far too long.
"Referees got into a zone where they were coaching players rather than penalising them, and the idea that we have to reset this, rather than it already being in place, is a sign of where we have got it wrong," he said.
"This is simply refereeing the game as it should always have been. You penalise a player and then tell him why, not tell a player he's getting it wrong, and then let it go," he said.
Guscott said one feature that caught his eye was the lack of knock-ons or dropped balls in the first weekend's games.
"The Kiwis don't seem to make many mistakes, which means that they often keep the ball until they kick it…
"I like the way they are going back to the basics at the breakdown in New Zealand.
"Let's always base laws on common sense, and do what's good for the game, and what's good for the players, because that means a competitive game of rugby," he said.
"The 30-phase flows we see so much of in the modern game are boring, and if this cleaning up of the breakdown is applied consistently it will eventually encourage quicker rugby, with more clever passing and kicking into space.
"It will be intriguing to see how it works out in New Zealand because their players have the best skillsets in the world.
"If they cannot adapt quickly, then no one will – but I am optimistic they will get to grips with it, and that it will be a massive positive for the game," he said.