With nothing short of a heroic defensive effort, the Highlanders won for the fourth straight time in Wellington last night.
It was not pretty - but it was gutsy, very gutsy - as the Highlanders came out victors 18-16 in a nail-biter against the Hurricanes.
With the victory the side gave a big boost to its playoff hopes, and putting a dent in the Hurricanes' post-season aspirations.
The Highlanders came out on top through a brilliant defensive attitude. They never blinked when they did not have the ball and just made tackle after tackle against what was a rather one-dimensional Hurricanes attack.
The Highlanders kicked most of their possession away and attacking chances were few and far between for the visitors.
But Hayden Parker slotted the goals, not missing a kick all night, and also added a dropped goal to have the visitors ahead at fulltime.
It was damn close at the end. Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara looked to have scored a try with five minutes left but it was ruled out by third match official Aaron Paterson for obstruction.
That was a tight call but one which rightly went the Highlanders' wayThe match had plenty riding on it - the Hurricanes and Highlanders were both on 30 points on the table going into the match - and it showed.
Neither side was prepared to chance its arm and it resembled a game of rugby league on occasions as both teams tried to bang each other into submission.
Line breaks were as rare as a Winston Peters apology.
The Highlanders never got near the tryline in the second half but it did not matter as its defence was so strong.
Best for the Highlanders were flankers Shane Christie and Elliot Dixon, while prop Ma'afu Fia got through plenty of work in his 50 minutes on the field.
Out the back Malakai Fekitoa ran as hard as ever while winger Richard Buckman was threatening whenever he had the ball. Parker never missed a shot and that, in the end, mattered as the Hurricanes missed two easy penalties in the second half.
Both sides traded penalties in the opening 15 minutes.
The Highlanders went very close after 13 minutes when Fia got to within an inch of the tryline but was stopped by some solid Hurricanes defence.
The Highlanders had the majority of the play in the opening quarter but could not get across the tryline, although Parker slotted a long range penalty from 49m out to put his side ahead 6-3.
The first half rather meandered along with neither side looking likely.
There were plenty of lineouts and neither side could turn territory into a five-pointer.
Both defences were holding firm and though the home team probed it could not find a way through.
Eventually, however, the Highlanders' defence broke, though it was more good luck than an outstanding display of skill.
Aaron Smith tried to clear a ball from a scrum on his line line and his opposite Perenara, who outplayed Smith all night, got a hand in the way.
The ball bounced up to Perenara and he wiggled his way over to score what looked a questionable try.
The Highlanders came straight back and Parker nudged over a penalty to keep his side in touch at the break.
Highlanders v Hurricanes: The scores
Highlanders ... 18
Hayden Parker 5 pen, d-goal
Hurricanes ... 16
TJ Perenara try; Beauden Barrett 2 pen; Andre Taylor con, pen
Halftime: 13-9 Hurricanes
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