Coming off a win against the Brumbies in Queenstown last Friday night, they are now preparing to take on the Crusaders in Motueka, in a match kicking off at 5.30pm.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said the match would be played in quarters, like last week's match against the Brumbies, and two teams from the Highlanders would play, each getting 40 minutes.
He said it was still a pre-season match and they would be working on parts of the game and getting combinations sorted.
Last Friday's battle against the Brumbies ended in a 15-11 victory for the Highlanders.
Joseph said he was happy to get the win. The home team did not score a try but that was not overly concerning as chances were created.
''It was a typical pre-season match in that there was a lot of ball movement and a lot of mistakes.
But it was good for us in that it is a starting point and we got something out of it.
''Some things were pleasing and other things were probably not that great but that is why we have pre-season games.
''When you are playing a quality team some things are going to work. We have been training for a long time now so it was good to get out there and have a run.''
He was pleased with the defence against the Brumbies and said when the Australian team did make a break there was a real commitment from players to get back and help out.
''We could have scored a couple of times but there were just a couple of knock-ons and errors at the wrong time.
''But it is always good to get a win. You go out there to play for a win and that is what we did. It was very hot so when we had a chance we went for a shot to give our forwards a bit of a breather.''
There were no serious injuries from the match against the Brumbies, though loose forwards Nasi Manu and Shane Christie will again not front this week.
Manu has a pectoral injury and is unlikely to play the final warm-up game against the Waratahs in Newcastle on February 14.
It was hoped he would be right for the season opener against the Blues on February 22.
Christie had just started running again, recovering from a knee injury picked up on the end-of-the-year Maori tour of North America.
Halfback Fumiaki Tanaka flew back to Japan last week to play for his club side Panasonic but has now rejoined the team.
The final warm-up game against the Waratahs should show which players are in line to start the first game as not the whole squad will travel to Australia.
The Highlanders will be flying to Nelson on Friday morning by charter flight and then bussing to Motueka.
They will return to Dunedin late on Friday night.
The Crusaders have yet to play a proper pre-season match, playing a shortened game against their development side in the weekend.
