The Highlanders will wake up this morning in Sydney, knowing they will have to play much better if they are to be competitive in their long-awaited playoff match against the Sharks in Durban on Sunday morning (NZ time).
They never fired a shot in Christchurch on Saturday night, the 34-8 shellacking from the Crusaders ensuring they finished sixth in the competition and have to head to Durban to take on the Sharks.
The Highlanders did not return to Dunedin yesterday, instead flying to Sydney, where they stayed last night. They will fly to South Africa today to prepare for their first playoff game in 12 years.
Joseph said the side had played the best two teams in the competition in the past two weeks and that had to be acknowledged.
''In this competition, when you play against the best teams, you have to play at your absolute best. And I'm not sure we have done that,'' he said.
''In the last two weeks, we have really struggled to win our own ball. We did that the week before against the Chiefs and scored some really nice set-piece tries.
''I did not see any lack of spark in my team. We were getting a hiding but the guys just did not give in. I know with these guys they just won't give in.''
He said the Highlanders should be proud of making the playoffs, and now was the time to look forward and concentrate on the first playoff game for 12 years for the franchise.
''I could give you a list of quotes at the start of the season where no-one rated the team. But here we are off to Africa to play the Sharks, so that is pretty great.
''I'm rapt for the players. I think they have done a hell of a job and they deserve everything they have got this year.
''We have knocked off some big teams and we have lost some games we should have won but that is the Super 15 competition.''
Injured fullback Ben Smith flew to Christchurch on Saturday and had a run-around before the game, but all he did was run the water for the team during the match.
He flew to Sydney yesterday and will be a big boost for the Highlanders when he comes back into the team against the Sharks.
His fill-in, Trent Renata, did nothing wrong on Saturday night but he had few chances.
Earlier this season, the Highlanders beat the Sharks 34-18 in Durban. The Sharks are not looking as impressive as they were at the start of the season, when they led the table for a long period of time.
The South Africans could have gone to second on the table if they had beaten the Stormers by 35 points or more and scored a four-try bonus point. However, that never looked likely as the Sharks eventually won 34-10 in Cape Town.
The Highlanders' victory in Durban earlier this season would give the team confidence for this week, Joseph said, although he was sure the Sharks would be much more focused than last time the teams met.
''Every game we approach, we give it 100%, and last time we went to Durban and got the result. Every game has its own life. So that game where we won over there is dead and gone. In fairness to the Sharks, they took us lightly and paid for that. I don't think they will do that again.
''We are ready. What we know from the Sharks is they are pretty much like the Crusaders. They'll kick it a bit. They'll maul us. Their game plan is pretty simple and they are a big pressure team.''
The Highlanders picked up no fresh injuries from the match against the Crusaders but will spend time this week picking over their deficiencies up front and trying to find chinks in the Sharks' game plan.
Lock Jarrad Hoeta joined the squad yesterday and will travel to South Africa.
If the Highlanders beat the Sharks, they will face the Waratahs in Sydney the following weekend in the semifinals. The Chiefs will play the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night in the other knock-out game.
In other games over the weekend, the Waratahs beat the Reds 34-3 in Brisbane, the Bulls downed the Rebels, who picked up the wooden spoon, 40-7 in Pretoria, and the Lions defeated the Cheetahs 60-25 in Johannesburg.
Super rugby
The playoffs
Brumbies (4) v Chiefs (5)
Canberra, Saturday, 9.40pm
Sharks (3) v Highlanders (6)
Durban, Sunday, 3.05am
Note: Playoff seeding in parentheses. Higher-ranked winner plays the Crusaders in one semifinal; other winner plays the Waratahs in the other semifinal.
