An inspired Highlanders outfit conjured up the boilover of the Super 14 rugby season with a 26-14 defeat of the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday night.
In a performance that will send tremors through the Crusaders a week out from the semifinals, the Highlanders played with more desire and made far fewer mistakes to stun their bigger southern rivals at AMI Stadium.
The visitors scored three tries to one, all in the first half to lead 23-14 at the break.
The expected fightback from the multiple Super rugby champions never eventuated. They were dominated in the second spell and kept scoreless.
It was easily the best performance of a difficult season for the Highlanders, whose two previous wins came against the lowly Lions and Cheetahs.
In contrast it was just the Crusaders' second loss, the other coming a month ago against the Chiefs.
However, since then they have been unconvincing in beating the Blues, Sharks and Queensland Reds and tonight's result was a significant drop from their high standards.
Unlike last week in Brisbane when they overcame a 21-8 deficit against the Reds, the second half was a listless one from the Crusaders, who melted in the face of an urgent Highlanders defence.
Crusaders captain Richie McCaw admitted his team needed to lift standards considerably.
"We thought we had a good wake-up call last week but a good Highlanders side put us under pressure and we made mistakes," he said.
"We got a bit frantic. We perhaps tried to play in our own half a wee bit.
"We have got next week to look forward to and we're going to have to be a whole lot better if we're going to be competitive."
