Crusaders 14
And so it ends. A poor season finishes with the most unexpected of results. The Highlanders, at the bottom of New Zealand rugby, are on top of the world.
They could not have produced a more dramatic curtain call for a year that was bordering on an annus horribilis until two wins were recorded in the final three rounds.
Rated by all as dogs so under they might as well have been buried under AMI Stadium, the Highlanders produced their best performance in years.
They were aggressive, enthusiastic and unbelievably accurate.
As captain Craig Newby said later, he could not recall if any of his team-mates had made an error.
The Highlanders forwards ripped into their more star-studded opponents, delivering good front-foot ball and taking the Crusaders out of the game when they had possession.
Richie McCaw was a non-event until he was yellow-carded with 10min to go for repeated infringements at the breakdown.
Certainly, the battle in the loose was a no-contest.
Newby was inspired in his last game for the Highlanders, and his combination with Tom Boys and Adam Thomson comprehensively shaded the Crusaders' all-All Black trio.
The line-out was smooth and the scrum solid.
And out of nowhere, rampaging lock Hayden Triggs and athletic hooker David Hall had career-best games for the Highlanders.
The backs did their part, too, scoring the first two tries for the visitors.
Paul Williams judged a skewed Dan Carter cross-kick to perfection and cancelled Corey Flynn's opener, and Toby Morland got the second after a mazy run by Daniel Bowden.
Whether Morland benefited from rival halfback Jimmy Cowan's off-field troubles proved irrelevant.
The man they call Smeagol stood tall, ran like a dart and silenced the doubters who wondered if he was quite good enough for this level.
This was a big night for Bowden, as well.
He has got a long way to go, we can all see that, but he is also a precious talent that must be nurtured.
After playing at a sublime level for the first 40min, the Highlanders switched into score-protection mode in the second spell but did not lose their intensity.
The lead was 12 points, good but far from insurmountable, with 20min to go.
Truth be told, most still felt the Crusaders would probably find a way to win.
But the Highlanders stayed composed and, ye gods, mature to the end.
"We wanted to play with passion and conviction and we wanted to attack," Highlanders coach Glenn Moore said.
"This one's certainly a bit special.
We looked to attack them and it worked well.
We managed to get behind them and put them under pressure."
It was a strange performance by the Crusaders.
They were obviously safe in the knowledge they had earned a home semifinal regardless of the result.
But they were remarkably off the boil.
Just when you expected them to click into gear and polish their game before the crunch end of the season, they slumped.
It was almost comical to watch how they dealt with the Highlanders' long or aerial punts.
"We thought we had a good wake-up call last week but a good Highlanders side put us under pressure and we made mistakes," Crusaders captain Richie McCaw said.
"We got a bit frantic. We perhaps tried to play in our own half a wee bit."
There was nothing hollow about this win for the Highlanders.
In fact, if Mike Delany had not lost his kicking touch, he missed four of his last five attempts at goal, the margin would have been greater.
The Highlanders also kept the Crusaders scoreless in the second half, which in itself is a remarkable achievement.
This was a night to remember.
Hopefully, it will go down as the night the Highlanders were reborn.
Highlanders 26 (Paul Williams, Toby Morland, Adam Thomson tries; Mike Delany conversion, 3 penalty goals), Crusaders 14 (Corey Flynn try; Dan Carter 3 penalty goals).
Half-time: 23-14.
Crowd: About 20,000.
Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand).
