The Highlanders opened their Super Rugby Trans-Tasman campaign with a comfortable 40-19 victory over the Reds on Friday night.
Many have predicted a New Zealand whitewash of the competition and that duly happened in the first round, as all five New Zealand teams bagged wins.
But winning margins were paper thin at the top level and at least two of the matches could have gone either way.
The Chiefs beat the Force in Perth 20-19 and would have lost if Force replacement Domingo Miotto had kicked a conversion in the last act of the game.
The Crusaders won 31-29 over the Brumbies as the Australian side also could not add a conversion at the end of the game to at least bag a draw.
The Blues won 50-3 against a Rebels side well off the pace while the Hurricanes and the Waratahs shared 17 tries between them on Friday night, the New Zealand team winning the match 64-48.
The Highlanders now face a 20-hour trip tomorrow to get to Perth.
They will face a side which appears to grow a leg at home. The Force threw plenty of fire at the Chiefs and have some big forwards up front.
The Highlanders never won two games in a row in Super Rugby Aotearoa and will be looking to improve on that record in Perth.
Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody said the key to the win was having a good week of preparation and quickly getting used to the environment.
All four sides who were in finals last week, on both sides of the Tasman, struggled at the weekend, so another week of training may help energy levels.
Highlanders loose forward Shannon Frizell did not play against the Reds after an incident in a bar last weekend.
The Highlanders said it had caused a distraction and Frizell was not selected.
Dermody said on Friday night the Highlanders would wait and see what happened over Frizell before any decision is made whether he would travel to Perth. The match kicks off at 9.45pm on Friday (NZ time).
In other games this weekend, the Hurricanes host the Force on Friday night.
On Saturday, the Blues host the Waratahs followed by the Chiefs taking on the Brumbies while the Reds go home to Brisbane to take on the Crusaders.
