9.15pm: Wow, that sounded like the crowd booing the Highlanders.
I've been at the old ground for a whole lot of losses, and can't recall the Landers ever being booed.
Some jersey backlash perhaps?
Anyway, that's me for the night. Frustrating night for the Highlanders.
Thanks for joining us. And remember, there is life left in Carisbrook yet. July 22, All Blacks v Fiji. Plus a couple of Otago games.
9.14pm: GAME OVER.
Force 21, Highlanders 14.
The Force kicked a late penalty to ice the win.
Terrible performance by Highlanders in second half.
Two consecutive losses at Carisbrook. Just like the bad old days.
Their playoff hopes are up in smoke. And with tough away games to finish in Sydney and Auckland, it is hard to see the Highlanders winning another game.
9.12pm: Seconds to play. Highlanders' season ticking away.
9.09pm: More drama. Force won a turnover and appeared to have scored again through (who else?) David Smith.
Ref calls the pass forward.
Game has come alive. But Highlanders' playoff hopes are looking sicker than their jerseys.
9.07pm: Noooooooooo.
Trouble at 'Brook.
Highlanders put in a nothing kick. David Smith - was I just saying the Force lacked a gamebreaker - runs a million miles, evades four tacklers and scores what may be a game-winning try.
Force 18, Highlanders 14. Four to play.
9.04pm: Double yikes. Schnikes, even. Force scrum just obliterated the Highlanders.
Penalty, and Force make the correct decision to go for goal.
Stannard slots it. Highlanders up 14-13 with 8 to play.
Highlanders haven't scored in second half. What's going on? That DAMN jersey!
9.02pm: It's full-on squeaky-bum time. The Force are now completely dominant. Highlanders scrambling.
8.59pm: Yikes, the Force go straight back on attack and appear to be all over the Highlanders.
A long pass and then Smith turns hero to villain, needlessly stretching for it and knocking it on.
Highlanders suddenly looking shaky. They can not afford to lose this one. And if they do, it's the jersey's fault.
8.57pm: Reverse jinx strikes again and it's a try to the Force.
The pressure finally tells as the Highlanders are caught short out wide. David Smith - remember when he was going to be the next big thing in New Zealand rugby? - stretches out for the try.
Stannard slots the conversion and it's Highlanders 14, Force 10 with 14 to play.
Force make a replacement. It's Longbottom off and Fatprop (Dunning) on.
8.55pm: Highlanders defence getting tested here. Force dominating possession and probing away. But they lack a gamebreaker.
8.52pm: Now would be a great time to check out our 150 Greatest Moments in Otago Sport series. To your right.
8.48pm: Booorrrrred. I mean, er, what a cracking game this is. Please stay with me to the end.
A word on the commentators. Sumo still an acquired taste. Marshy is really growing into his role. And Willie Lose.....ermmmm. Anyone read his bizarre defence of Murray Deaker's shocking slip of the tongue?
8.45pm: Otago Nuggets 92, Taranaki Mountain Airs 88! That's a second win for the RESURGENT Nuggets.
Craig Bradshaw 24 points, Scott O'Gallagher 23, Lance Allred 18 and 10 rebounds.
8.43pm: Oamaru fan (I always find a few in that fair town) Deidre Senior is not a fan of the green jersey - and I think she is actually a Southlander, most of whom were supposedly happy to see the back of blue.
8.40pm: Frustrating couple of minutes for the Highlanders. Couple of good breaks but all that results is a turnover.
Really interesting 10-15 minutes to come. The Force won't feel out of this at all.
8.38pm: Do you think if you wound the clock back five years and told someone the Green-Landers would be playing at the Toast Rack (our favourite name for the new stadium), they'd look at you a bit funny?
8.35pm: Commentators have mentioned both "planking" and "falcon" tonight. Isn't our language evolving all the time?
Still 14-3 Highlanders. The Green Machine would really like some insurance points soon.
8.32pm: Sopoaga misses a penalty. The old reverse jinx again - you will recall I had praised his kicking earlier in the game.
My online boss (more of a football man) says he doesn't like the green. Reckons it looks more like an away strip. But then, he supports Man United, who run three different colours every year in order to sell more shirts in China.
Back to the rugby and the Highlanders have broken out in some style. Great run by Piutau, one of the finds of the season.
8.28pm: Anyone been watching the spelling bee on ESPN? Absolutely riveting TV. I got excited this afternoon when I spelled a German word, weltschmerz, correctly and the 14-year-old girl got it wrong.
Anywhere, we're back at Carisbrook and the second half has just kicked off.
Twitter still humming with Highlanders-related comments. Still some passionately anti-green fans out there, but it does seem there is a general swing in the other direction.
8.17pm: And that's halftime. The Highlanders lead the Force 14-3 in their last game at the beautiful old ground known as Carisbrook.
There have been flashes of exciting rugby but I wouldn't say you were looking at two playoff-worthy teams.
And the jersey? Well, it's fine. It looks sharp and it's certainly distinctive. Will it signal some bright new era of Southern rugby dominance? Hmmm, I still think King Jamie and his boys will have more to do with that than a jersey.
But it's here to stay and my guess is it won't be long before any controversy dies out.
Join me for the second half in 10 minutes.
8.14pm: David Murray writes that the new Highlanders jersey made him vomit. He calls it like he sees it.
Over at the basketball, the Nuggets lead Taranaki by five going into the final quarter.
Two minutes left in the first half at Carisbrook.
8.10pm: Highlanders have missed a few tackles tonight, which is always a concern.
Are the players blending into the grass?
8.07pm: Some more reaction. Peter Wright from Brisbane says the jersey colour is irrelevant; it's about how the team plays. Paul Mitchell says he's colour blind and is having trouble picking the green players out. And Anonymous from Auckland says he quite likes the jersey.
8.03pm: A great break from the Highlanders breaks down when a nasty cheating Force player takes Siale Piutau out early and is sent to the sin bin.
Another Sopoaga penalty and it's 14-3 Highlanders and complaints about the jersey have stopped.
8.01pm: Sopoaga misses the kick. Highlanders lead 11-3.
Now would be a good time to point out Ben Smith is the best fullback in New Zealand, and it will be madness if he does not go to the World Cup. Despite what a certain site's ugly barometer would tell you.
7.57pm: Force dominating for a few minutes. Good retention but then lose ground with a wacko pass. Highlanders get penalty and Jimmy Cowan belts a massive kick into touch.
Hate to say this but the game has been pretty turgid so far. Jersey change definitely only front-page material so far . . . and there it goes!
I call it the reverse jinx: say a game is boring, and wait for something to happen IMMEDIATELY.
Quick Highlanders ball, miss pass, and the great Ben Smith scores a nice try.
7.52pm: Sopoaga with another penalty, a really lovely kick. If this kid can work on his kicking, he is going to be a heck of a player.
Highlanders 6, Force 3.
And is there anything more to say about the jersey? Flick me a line at bigmeiks@gmail.com
7.50pm: Sopoaga replies for the Highlanders and it's 3-3. And the wife - she's never watched so much rugby - points out there are a few fans clad in green in the crowd. Could it be that people are already warming to the new colours?
There is another game happening in Dunedin tonight. The OTAGO Nuggets - they don't need to change their name or their colours - are leading the Taranaki Mountain Airs 47-43 at halftime. The Nugs are seeking their second win of the season.
7.47pm: Force up 3-0. Highlanders already getting whistled off the park. Willie Lose has made an interesting point - I know! Who knew he had it in him? Slick Willie feels the Highlanders' loosies stand out in the ruck because of their green tops, making it easier for the ref to spot 'em and ping 'em.
7.44pm: Some more reaction from the masses. Ian McLean says the new jersey is "hideous" and wonders how Crusaders fans would react if their beloved team went green. And some rooster from Canberra called Walter Griffin tells me there is huge excitement over there that the Raiders have company in the lime-green club. He even sent some lyrics for the Green Machine song. Thanks, Wal.
7.41pm: The green scandal has reached London! Jamie Frewen has emailed us with the subject GREEN JUMPERS SUCK.
Oh, and the rugby. There have been a couple of turnovers, a couple of penalties. Nothing too exciting.
7.39pm: You should see Twitter right now. Just going NUTS with Highlanders-related posts. Some heavily anti, some heavily pro, some just stirring. But hey, at least they're watching.
7.37pm: My wife walks past just as the camera pans out. "I can't see the Highlanders," she quips. She has a point.
7.35pm: We have green! Lime green, like the Canberra Raiders. Blue armpits, and blue across the shoulders. Also strips of blue coming down the front of the neck, a bit like a league v-neck. They don't look AWFUL. But they look a bit washed out. I expected brighter.
7.34pm: Bagpipes cranking out. Do they have to go too?
7.32pm: Three minutes until the GREEN-Landers come out. Watch this space.
7.25pm: Beautiful montage of Highlanders moments from Carisbrook. Which leads me to my biggest problem with the rationale behind this jersey change: that the Highlanders have no history. What rot. Tell it to the people who were at the 1999 final. And tell it to Anton Oliver.
The Highlanders have 16 years of history. That's a generation. And history has to start somewhere.
Change the jersey, by all means. But don't be so disrespectful of a team that DOES have history.
7.20pm: Late change for the Force - Cameron Shepherd is out. He's a class act, so that's good news for the Highlanders.
Adam Thomson earns 50th cap for the Highlanders. Good reward for a top man and a very special player.
Wow, those green socks look very sick. Am getting just a little bit worried about this jersey.
7.17pm: Email me (bigmeiks@gmail.com) with any comments, questions or jokes relating to Kermit.
7.15pm: Welcome to Friday night football. The Highlanders are at home to the Force and . . . but you don't really care about the rugby tonight, do you?
It's all about the jersey - the new lime-green strip the Highlanders are poised to unveil.
It's been an intense seven days of complaints, debates and outright panic over what is seen by some as a misguided attempt by a rugby team to create an instant identity.
Let's see what the jersey looks like. And if the Green-Landers win by 40, maybe the complaining will stop.
