The Highlanders have succumbed to their South Island rivals the Crusaders, falling 51-18 in what was a dominant display.
Twenty two points were conceded in a ten minute stretch towards the end of the first half whilst the Highlanders were down to 14 men. It was this that ultimately proved the difference as it allowed the Crusaders to take control of the match and forced the Highlanders to play catch up rugby from then on.
It wasn't as if the Highlanders played badly. In fact the performance was an improvement on the week before. It just so happened that they came up against a red hot Crusaders team who showed why many still consider them to be the best team in the competition.
They were clinical in every sense of the word and the backline looked slick for the entirety of the game. Dan Carter showed that he is indeed still the best first five-eighth in the world, whilst Zac Guilforld gave the Highlanders all sorts of problems.
The battle up front was brutal early on, with both teams looking to smash each other in this area. But as the game wore on, the Crusaders began to gain dominance and starved the Highlanders of possession for the majority of the second half. And this was key. The Highlanders simply didn't have the ball to attack with making coming back from a 20 points deficit near impossible.
Despite this, they did defend extremely well, holding their opponents out for lengthy periods of time while hot on attack. But the tackling began to take its toll and inevitably leaked three tries, whilst their only points came from a Hosea Gear intercept.
The turning point in the game came with the sin binning of James Haskell. After having scored ten points whilst the Crusaders were without George Whitelock to take a 13-10 lead. The game was very much in the balance with the Highlanders on the front foot and looking threatening.
But as the tables turned seeing the Highlanders reduced to 14 men, it was too much to ask to try to stop such a clinical Crusaders team with one less player. Three tries were conceded in this time, taking the half time score to 32-13.
What can separate the good teams from the average in this competition is the way they can put a team away. A good team will bury their opponent, which is exactly what the Crusaders did giving the Highlanders nothing in the second half.
It is their ability to do this that has seen them prove such a strong force over the years. It seems they have rediscovered this ability in the past month of this year's competition, coming right at the business end of the season as always.
It was hard to judge the Highlanders' performance overall, given for much of the game they were made to play catch up rugby which always leads to things getting messy. For the first 25 minutes they were very competitive in all areas of the game and showed they can mix it with the best.
The defence was poor whilst Haskell was off the field, with too many one-off tackles being missed to expect to maintain the lead. But this was a product of great attack from the Crusaders, starting with a good platform up front and the best performance of the year from Dan Carter.
The competition now takes a three week break while the All Blacks take on Ireland in a three match test series. This gives the team the chance to regain the energy and intensity they brought to the table at the start of the season, where they were able to physically smash teams up front. It will be a crucial period for every team and the way the break is handled could determine who features in the playoffs.
With two games plus a bye to come, the Highlanders find themselves in a position where they simply have to win to progress.
It seems there is one position in the top six left, with the Highlanders, Sharks, Hurricanes and Reds all still very much in the running.
That spot is really any of these four teams for the taking and it may very well come down to who wants it the most.
The Highlanders will have to go through the Chiefs and the Reds to get it, something they are capable of, but whether or not they deliver is a different story.
But if they don't, the season should be seen as a positive, the team are contenders once more and will only get better, what's not to like?