The Highlanders are back in the winner's circle but need to play better to be competitive on Saturday, says coach Jamie Joseph.
However, injuries continue to rear their ugly head, with first five-eighth Hayden Parker gone for the season and co-captain Shane Christie picking up a hamstring injury.
The side beat the Brumbies 23-10 in Invercargill on Saturday night, putting it back on track following a couple of close losses.
But the Chiefs loom large in the distance, with the Highlanders set to take on the competition leaders on Saturday.
Joseph was quick to apply for the underdog tag for the match in Hamilton.
"In terms of the Chiefs, they are by far the best team in the competition and you can't make mistakes against those guys because they have made every team pay in this competition so far,'' he said.
"If we make mistakes ... then we are going to be under our posts a fair bit. They apply a lot of pressure on teams so we have to be a little bit more accurate.''
The side had to be more disciplined than it was against the Brumbies.
"That was probably the letdown, really. Too many silly penalties, really. Penalties that you would normally concede when you are trying too hard and pushing things. That is something we have to take on board going into the match next week.''
Joseph said as the competition got past halfway, bodies started to get tired and sore and that led to injuries.
The Chiefs had more than a team out injured for their close win against the Sharks on Friday night in New Plymouth and the Highlanders picked up their fair share in Invercargill.
Christie is the most worrying, as he has a history of hamstring injuries.
"The concerning one is Shane Christie. He is not the sort of guy to walk off, which is what he did, so that suggests he has done a bad one.''
Christie missed most of last season with a hamstring tear, which first occurred in pre-season.
No8 Liam Squire left the field with a sore shoulder, as did midfielder Rob Thompson with a blow to the nose, but both are expected to be right.
Parker injured his knee at training on Thursday, will have an operation on it in the next few days and is gone for the season.
"He ruptured his cruciate ligament. He was not doing much, either. He was just running along. It was sort of like Aaron Cruden last year, when you are just running along and you get on a funny angle.''
Marty Banks is back to full fitness but a replacement would be called in for Parker and also hooker Liam Coltman, who had damaged a ligament in his toe.
It was a tight, forward-orientated game on Saturday night, with the Highlanders' defence to the fore.
"It was a real tough match. Obviously, with the way the weather came in just before the match started, that affected both teams' plans.
"I thought we handled the pressure really well in the first half, as we did not have much ball. Then we got a couple of opportunities at the end of the first half and to go into the sheds 7-3 up was quite pleasing.
"I think the second half was a real arm-wrestle again. Those 50-50 opportunities we tended to win and that got us going.''
Lima Sopoaga had a standout game at first five-eighth but that was through the good work of the forwards, Joseph said.
"Lima sticks out every time the guys up front do the job. I thought our lineout plans worked well, standing off, going in and sacking them, contesting them. We conceded one try but it seemed to stop their game going. Behind that Lima played really well.''
It was another weekend where all the New Zealand teams in action won.
The Hurricanes thumped the Lions 50-17 in South Africa and the Blues beat the Rebels 36-30 in Auckland.
The Waratahs beat the Stormers 32-20 in Cape Town, while the Reds beat the Cheetahs 30-17. The Bulls defeated the Force 42-20 in Perth.
In Buenos Aires yesterday, the Jaguares made a mess of the Southern Kings, scoring 10 tries to thump the visitors 73-27.
