The Highlanders went down 21-19 to the Chiefs in Hamilton, after leading 16-7 at the break, and could have won the game if they had taken a couple of opportunities near the end.
Joseph, though disappointed to lose, was not too down about the defeat, and said it was a game to take the positives from.
''I have been saying this for a while now but this is a new team. There is a bunch of nobodies, some of them ... but what comes from that, is there is no baggage. They are a new group and you can see it. They played that way last week and this week. Generally when you get that right, things start to happen down below,'' he said.
''We created opportunities and I think that is the most promising thing. We created some really good attacking opportunities against a quality defence in the Chiefs. That is a promising sign for us this year.''
There was nothing in the match on Saturday night and, although disappointed to lose, the Highlanders had at least the satisfaction of getting a bonus point out of the game.
But it could have been four points and on another day the Highlanders could have come away with the win, and Joseph was fully aware of that.
''It was a game of inches, really. We'd score and then they score and it kept going like that. We were a couple of plays away from winning that match. And we prepared to play for the whole 80 minutes.
''I was pretty proud of the guys. We played a lot of rugby, created plenty of try-scoring opportunities and made the most of most of them but the most important ones we didn't.
''Those ones slipped out of our hands and we are a wee bit disappointed about that and the team are pretty down around that.
''But I think they should be proud in terms of playing a quality opposition and we should take the positives out of it.''
Joseph paid tribute to his tight five and praised lock Joe Wheeler in his first big match in his second season with the Highlanders.
Competition between players always helped, he said, pointing to the performance of openside flanker John Hardie, who started ahead of one of last week's best, Shane Christie.
''Joe has not played for a while ... but he had a great game. Kick-offs, in the lineout, he got round the park. He was exactly what you wanted in a set piece.
''Hards [Hardie] was very unlucky and disappointed he did not get a run last week. But this week, against this opposition, we selected him as we thought he was more suited to this game. I thought he did the team proud. But it is a tight rivalry.
''You look at the Chiefs as an example. There is great competition between each player and that is something we are trying to bring to our side.''
In other games over the weekend the Rebels beat the Cheetahs 35-14 in Melbourne, the Stormers beat the Hurricanes 19-18 in Cape Town, the Waratahs beat the Reds 32-5 in Brisbane, the Brumbies defeated the Force 27-14 in Perth and the Bulls scored their first win, beating the Lions 25-17 in Pretoria.
The Highlanders have a bye next week and disbanded yesterday but will come together next weekend. The side's next match is against the Force at Forsyth Barr Stadium on March 15.
