The Cheetahs were gifted five valuable competition points after capitalising on a woeful performance from the Highlanders, walking away from Invercargill deserved winners by 36-19.
Questions will be asked of the Highlanders and heads will likely roll - I can see the headlines now; ‘What went wrong?' ' That does not feel right, does it?'
‘What went right?' is the question that should be asked, the answer to which is absolutely nothing.
After a dream off-season with the pen, signing some of the biggest names in world rugby, coach Jamie Joseph will be scratching his head, wondering how picking seven past and present All Blacks in his match-day 22 could be a formula for embarrassment.
On paper, this should have been an easy win for Joseph's star-studded southerners, a few strokes of bad luck was all it took for it all to go horribly wrong.
A late omission from Ma'a Nonu with a knee injury gave Shaun Treeby a starting berth in the midfield alongside Phil Burleigh, two players who have proven themselves as solid performers for the Highlanders, but lacked the experience and potency that Nonu brings to a backline.
Let us pray it is only a minor injury.
The Highlanders forward pack contains a handful of players whose names alone should strike fear into the hearts of their opposition, but World Cup winners Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock, Brad Thorn seemed somewhat absent at the breakdown.
Adam Thomson and Nasi Manu once ruled the tackle ball zone with an iron fist, but Joe Wheeler and Jake Paringatai have been left with large shoes to fill after Thomson moved off-shore and Manu suffered a major injury in the opening round against the Chiefs.
Young first-five eighth Lima Sopoaga will unfortunately be seen as the scapegoat of an all-round ugly performance from his team.
Sopoaga's nerves took their toll and his mistakes were costly for the Highlanders on the scoreboard, he was replaced shortly before half-time with the more experienced Colin Slade.
After spending the past year sitting in the stands following a broken leg in round-five of last year, Slade looked eager to finally put to bed a horror run of injuries and lead the backline as the Highlanders key playmaker.
Unfortunately for Slade, he was 35 minutes too late, the damage had been done.
The one silver lining in this performance was the Highlanders' dangerous back three of Hosea Gear, Kade Poki and Ben Smith; they managed to salvage some pride with the limited ball they were given, Poki scoring an impressive hat-trick, giving his hometown locals something to smile about on the way home.
Games like this are not entirely uncommon for the Highlanders, injuries in the past two seasons have exposed them at the business end of the season.
Seeing a result like this in round four will send shockwaves amongst the southern camp and it is up to the more experienced players to lead from the front and learn from this example, using it as something to build upon, rather than letting it define them.