It was ugly - but it was a win.
The Highlanders scored their first victory of the season with a 20-13 win over the Reds at Forsyth Barr Stadium last night.
It was not a particularly pretty affair.
In fact, if the game was a beauty contest, it would have not got past the first audition.
There were plenty of errors, continuity was lacking from both teams and the line breaks were rare.
A try from Highlanders winger Waisake Naholo 13 minutes from time put the home side's nose in front and it managed to hang on to win.
Naholo showed a good step to get around his man after a nice ball from lock Tom Franklin and the big Taranaki man charged over from 10m out.
A late Hayden Parker penalty sealed the win.
The game was certainly no classic - at times, it was on life support, and struggling to find anything to keep it alive.
There were some poor options at kicking time, neither side seemed to know how to play territory and the scrums were nothing short of terrible.
You would find more socialist voters in Parnell than clean scrums as both sides struggled to clear the ball.
This affected much of each side's attack and, coupled with some inaccurate passing, it was a messy 80 minutes.
Best for the home team were locks Franklin and Mark Reddish while Naholo was dangerous every time he got the ball.
But the Reds loose forwards were a step ahead of the Highlanders loose trio and that slowed much of what the Highlanders created.
Reds halfback Will Genia nearly scored early in the second half but some fine defensive work from Aaron Smith managed to turn him over just a metre from the line.
It was a great play by Smith but, from the resulting scrum, the Reds scored the first try of the game.
No 8 Jake Schatz lost control of the ball, but in going back to the ball, a gap opened up, Highlanders flanker John Hardie slipped off the tackle and Schatz ran 5m to score.
James O'Connor added the extras and the Reds were in front.
But they could not stay there as the Highlanders finished strongly.
The first half was about as exciting as a wet weekend in Wairarapa.
The Reds had the weight of possession in the opening quarter and looked lively with the ball in hand.
But their only reward was a penalty from O'Connor who also badly missed a handy kick from 30m out.
Marty Banks, on the other hand, had his radar on and, after putting the Highlanders in front after just two minutes, he knocked over two quick penalties to put his side 9-3 up after half an hour.
The Highlanders again lacked ball in the first half and a couple of average options cost them try-scoring opportunities early in the match.
The closest they got to scoring in the first half was when Naholo tried to get on the end of a Ben Smith chip kick but Genia was judged to have forced the ball down first - just.
Otago Maori will be out to defend its trophies at the Te Waipounamu tournament in Waimate today.
The Otago men's and women's teams won their sections of the tournament last year, and Otago also won the haka trophy.
The senior men's side has a sprinkling of seasoned club players with the likes of Southern backs Josh Walden and Nathan Cargo and former Otago hooker Peter Mirrielees.
Otago will also field a colts side at the tournament.
Highlanders v Reds
The scores
Highlanders 20
Waisake Naholo try; Marty Banks 4 pen, Hayden Parker pen
Reds 13
Jake Schatz try; James O'Connor 2 pen, con
Halftime: 9-3
Crowd: 13,200
