Captain Jimmy Cowan sent from the field with 20 minutes left, no ball or continuity in their game, and playing against a Blues side which had the right amount of class at key times.
Out-gunned, and strangely out-enthused, the Highlanders never looked likely and conceded 14 points in under 10 minutes at the start of the game to be immediately behind the 8-ball.
Cowan was his usual industrial self but he lost his cool when trying to tackle Blues first five-eighth Jimmy Gopperth as his side was pressing on attack.
The tackle was highish, and there was more shoulder than arms, but Gopperth milked it for all it was worth and referee Stu Dickinson, in his best school principal manner, gave Cowan a dressing down before sending him off.
But to be honest, the game was well gone by then for the southern men.
The modern game is all about having the ball and doing something with it.
The Highlanders did not have nearly enough ball and when they did they were simply not allowed to do much with it.
They did not help themselves by dropping the ball at regular intervals, although both sides had butterfingers throughout the game.
The visiting side looked under pressure all night, there were just too many small errors and the first half, in particular, was ordinary from the southern men.
The side should have been down by more than 14-3 at the break, but gritty Blues halfback Taniela Moa broke the back of the Highlanders 10 minutes into the second half when he ran from a scrum 5m out and could not be stopped.
The Blues had all the possession in the first half, while what ball the Highlanders did get, they quickly lost.
The visiting side managed only 14 breakdowns in the first 40 minutes, so the chance of getting any continuity into their game was next to none.
It took until the 20th minute for the Highlanders to get past the Blues 22m line.
For the second week in a row, the start from the Highlanders was a shocker.
The visiting side turned over the ball at the very first breakdown, the Blues moved it wide and, after Rudi Wulf made a break, Isaia Toeava had a simple run to the line, scoring after 28 seconds. Gopperth added the extras.
The Highlanders came back and, within a couple of minutes, Mathew Berquist knocked over a penalty from 40m out.
But that was about as good as it got from the Highlanders in the first 40 minutes.
The Blues then went in for their second try with less than 10 minutes gone.
Gopperth received the ball 5m out and then headed back towards his forwards before resembling an Olympic gymnast and jumping over the breakdown to score. He nailed the conversion.
The Highlanders looked shell-shocked and struggled to get any ball, let alone territory in the first half.
Things were not helped when hooker David Hall was yellow-carded for some offside play at a breakdown after 25 minutes.
It appeared to have got worse just before the half-hour mark, when former Highlander Josh Blackie burrowed his way over the line but, after what seemed a lifetime, referee Dickinson was advised to rule out the try.
Best for the Highlanders were loose forwards Adam Thomson and Alando Soakai, while Daniel Bowden in the midfield tried hard.
Ben Smith defended well all night including a magnificent effort to stop Joe Rokocoko in full flight near the end.
Jerome Kaino was strong in the loose for the Blues, Anthony Boric got round the field and Tony Woodcock looked as good as ever, after being out for a month.
Toeava was all class in the Blues midfield.
• Blues 26 (Isaia Toeava, Jimmy Gopperth, Taniela Moa, Joe Rokocoko tries, Gopperth three conversions), Highlanders 6 (Mathew Berquist two penalty goals). Half-time: 14-3. Crowd: 17,193.
