But the Otago co-captain is hungry for more success as he counts down the days until he departs — and he sees no reason why a historic double cannot be the aim.
First things first.
They showed remarkable courage and composure to fight back from a 15-point deficit and having a man in the bin for 10 minutes.
"It’s pretty epic," Gilbert said.
"Just the way the boys did it was pretty cool. Just a big team effort — that’s probably the thing I’m most proud of."
Gilbert is easing back to full duties after suffering a minor calf injury and only entered the game in the 51st minute on Saturday.
The fair bet seemed to be that the Log o’ Wood was going nowhere, but Otago never lost their belief.
"Obviously the scoreboard wasn’t in our favour but we just trusted ourselves.
"That’s a really big thing, I think.
"There was still a lot of belief in the group. Everyone knew what we were doing was working — we just probably weren’t doing it enough.
"We trusted in ourselves, we trusted in our game, and we just executed a few big moments down the stretch there.
"I think a few boys really stood up as well. There were some big individual performances."
A Ranfurly Shield reign — and Otago must now refocus for the North Harbour challenge as they bid to keep it for the summer and beyond — can be magic, obviously.
But there is another intriguing prospect to consider.
Whisper it very quietly but is there any reason not to think Otago are capable of making it a Shield-NPC double?
Their NPC title drought now stretches to 27 years, but they are playing so well, and they are so nicely poised at second in the table, that there might be nothing wrong with setting their sights unimaginably high.
Gilbert, who heads to the Connacht club in Ireland when this season ends, is loving the sense of belief in his squad and is happy to talk about the goal of winning another trophy this season.
"I look at the team we’ve got on paper and I think we can beat anyone, and I feel like we’re starting to show that now.
"For us, the Shield is almost a bonus for where we’re at and where we want to be going this year.
"We’re very aware we’ve got a couple of big weeks coming up, not just for the Shield but for our season and for what we want to achieve this year.
"We think we’re good enough [to win the NPC] and we want to show people that we’re good enough."
Something that has slipped under the radar is that Gilbert, who went to St Andrew’s College, was on the other side of the Shield rivalry a few years ago.
He started on the left wing — and scored a try, the devil — for Canterbury when they came to Dunedin and took the Log off Otago in 2019.
All is forgiven, especially as Gilbert has since racked up 36 games (eight tries) for Otago and 57 games (14 tries) for the Highlanders.
The former New Zealand under-20 and All Blacks XV representative has tried to steer clear of looking backwards as he enters the final weeks of his time in Dunedin.
"I’m trying to be really present, really stay where my feet are, and just try to make the most of moments like this.
"You don’t get to win the Ranfurly Shield very often, so I’m just soaking it all in."
Like all his team-mates, Gilbert hopes Otago can produce a big performance this Saturday, not just in the interests of retaining the Ranfurly Shield but to mark the 100th game of hooker Liam Coltman.
"I don’t know what we can say about him.
"He’s an amazing man — 100 games, the first man since John Leslie back in the 1990s.
"He means a lot to this province and this community. It’s going to be a big occasion for him and his family."
Ranfurly Shield and Farah Palmer Cup on tour today
9am: Eastern Rugby Club
11am: Maniototo Rugby Clue
2pm: Upper Clutha Rugby Club
4pm: Arrowtown Rugby Club
