If you had been told before a ball had been kicked that your lads, faced with the immense challenge of playing the two best teams in Super Rugby in the first two rounds, would bank a win and a bonus point, would you have taken it?
And do you think the real gauge of the Highlanders’ progress this season might actually be how they play in the next two games and not the first two?
Interesting, but perhaps the answers are simple.
The immediate response to the first question has to be a solid yes.
Few — outside the camp, at least — expected the Highlanders to beat the Crusaders first up then take it to the Chiefs as much as they did in Saturday night’s 26-23 loss at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
That represents an excellent start for a team that came into 2026 holding the wooden spoon.
The second question might also need to be answered in the affirmative.
Doing well against the two top dogs at this stage of this season is lovely — but what will it really mean if the Highlanders lose to the Reds in Brisbane this Friday night and stumble against the Force in Dunedin eight days later?
A best-case scenario is beating both Australian teams and sitting quite pretty after roughly the first third of the season.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph — no proper news yet on his future with the All Blacks, if you are wondering — was both disappointed to be beaten by the Chiefs and confident his team were heading in the right direction after a season in which half their games ended in narrow losses.
"We worked really hard to change those tight results around, and last week we were successful," Joseph said.
"We could quite easily have had a couple of wins.
"I guess the learning, really, for us as a team if that when you get your chances, you’ve got to nail them against quality sides.
"Every game, every week, we want to go out there and perform really well and obviously come away with a win.
"I’m a little bit disappointed for the team because they did play well at times and we did create a lot of rugby, and then we sort of gifted a couple of soft tries."
Joseph was proud of how the Highlanders fought back after a niggly spell halfway through the second half when the Chiefs scored two tries, one of which was indeed frustratingly soft, and threatened to run away with the game.
He also highlighted the big moment when Sean Withy could not quite gather a Cameron Millar kick over the line, and the Chiefs promptly went 100m to score.
Joseph had no comment on whether the Chiefs restart before that try was an illegal drop-out.
There was not a question the Highlanders were showing growth from last season, he said.
"We’ve looked at those tight losses and gone: so what do we need to do, and how do we do that together?
"I feel that we’re definitely going in the right direction, but we’re playing quality teams, and when you get your chance, you’ve got to nail it."
The Highlanders were again comfortably out-gained in attack, gaining 372m to the Chiefs’ 560m, despite star winger Caleb Tangitau’s individual heroics (103m on seven carries).
Staying close despite that disparity suggests there is some fine defensive work being done, and Joseph highlighted the work being done by new defence coach David Kidwell.
Young loose forward Lucas Casey was reluctant to leave the game but was replaced at halftime after suffering a "shot to the shoulder".
Highlanders co-captain Hugh Renton had another run for the Bravehearts in their 31-17 loss to the Blues development team on Friday and may come into contention for the trip to Brisbane.
The Reds had the bye in a round that featured the Blues beating the Force 42-23 in Joondalup, the Waratahs beating the Fijian Drua 36-13 in Sydney, and the Hurricanes smashing Moana Pasifika 52-10 in Wellington.
Yesterday, the Brumbies ran rampant late as they scored eight tries in an impressive 50-24 win over the Crusaders in Christchurch.
