Good, old-fashioned driving play provided the platform when the Highlanders upset the Waratahs 26-10 in their Super 14 match in Invercargill on Friday.
The Highlanders produced their best performance of the season as they outplayed the Waratahs and scored three tries to one in the Southland wet.
It was the Highlanders' third win of the season but it was a severe blow to the semi-final chances of the Waratahs, who hardly fired a shot.
The Highlanders were in control for most of the game and shut out the Waratahs 16-0 in the second spell.
Hooker Jason Rutledge played a blinder on his home ground, Adam Thomson bagged a brace of tries and was dominant in the loose, while Steven Setephano and Josh Bekhuis also had strong games in a dominant pack.
Jimmy Cowan controlled play well from halfback and Israel Dagg was always a danger from fullback, but it was a barren night for the Waratahs.
The Waratahs kicked off with the rain and wind behind them before a small crowd but it was the Highlanders who dominated the early stages.
They employed the pick and go to good effect and scored after nine minutes when, from the fifth scrum re-set, No 8 Steven Setephano was driven over for a deserved try.
Three minutes later the Highlanders extended their lead to 12-0 when, after constant pressure, Jimmy Cowan fed Adam Thomson from a ruck and the latter spun over in a tackle.
The Highlanders dominated territory and possession in the first quarter but, in one of their few forays out of their own half, Daniel Halangahu kicked a penalty for the Waratahs' first points.
The New South Welshmen gradually got into the game and scored their first try after 33 minutes when, after a drive by No 8 Ben Mowen, Berrick Barnes flipped an inside pass to Kurtley Beale who scored under the posts. Halangahu's conversion made it 12-10.
That was the halftime score and, on the run of play, the Highlanders should have been ahead by more.
The Highlanders increased their lead to 17-10 with a lovely try six minutes into the second spell. They moved the ball to the right where Dagg and Josh Bekhuis combined to put Thomson over in the corner for his second try.
And it became 20-10 seven minutes later when Matt Berquist goaled when the Waratahs were penalised at a maul.
The Waratahs brought on Sosene Anesi and Luke Burgess midway through the second spell in an effort to inject more penetration into their back play.
But it was the Highlanders who scored next, from another penalty by Berquist after a strong thrust at the defence by Jason Shoemark and, when the Waratahs infringed at a scrum, Berquist goaled again - this time from 44 metres - to give the Highlanders a 16-point buffer.
Scores:
Highlanders 26
Tries: Setephano, Thomson, 2
Conversions: Dagg
Penalties: Berquist 3
Waratahs 10
Tries: Beale
Conversions: Halangahu
Penalties: Halangahu
HT: Highlanders, 12-10.