There was plenty of niggle, plenty of dash, lots of noise but most important of all there was a Highlanders victory.
In front of a sold-out crowd of more than 23,000 at Forsyth Barr Stadium last night, the Highlanders won 34-26 over the Crusaders.
It was efficiency against enterprise-- the accountant against the entrepreneur, the orthodox against the southpaw.
The Crusaders forward pack smoothly went about its business, and had the ascendancy up front.
But it did not have the backs. The Highlanders did and in the end, that was the difference.
With chants of "Waisake Naholo'' ringing out from the stands, the Highlanders backs showed a clean pair of heels to their opponents and backing their abilities came home the victors.
The Fijian winger dotted down twice, and so did Clutha product Matt Faddes, as the home team scored some marvellous tries.
The Crusaders were quick out of the blocks and the 5000 plus Cantabrians in the crowd impressively introduced their credentials.
But they were silenced in a hurry as the Highlanders hit back and the longer the game went on, the sweeter the singing became for the home fans.
With every seat taken there was actually no-one left sitting in them when, with just under 10 minutes to go, Highlanders replacement forward Liam Squire scored the fifth try and the game was in the bag.
The crowd went home happy and the Highlanders are now tied at the top of the Super rugby table.
Long may that last.
