A halftime spray from Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger appears to be the catalyst for their remarkable come-from-behind 33-31 win over the Chiefs on Sunday.
The Highlanders trailed 24-0 after 20 minutes and then 31-7 in the second half, but managed to claw their way back and steal victory at the death, when Sio Tomkinson's try - converted Mitch Hunt - after the fulltime siren secured victory.
Mauger admitted he "very rarely" has a spray at his players, but felt it was warranted after a poor first half and the Highlanders responded, as they played with more attacking flare in the second half.
"The first thing was about mentality," he says. "We set ourselves up for a couple of those tries we conceded early, just from not working hard enough and that's unacceptable.
"Once we addressed that, it was back to strategy, around how we were going to build our game with the mentality we talked about at halftime. So credit to these boys, they went out and did it.
"I'm extremely proud of the fight in the second half. We were slow in the first half and we can't afford to start like that again in our last three games."
The win was the Highlanders' second against the Chiefs in the Super Rugby Aotearoa season, after claiming a last-minute 28-27 win over the same opponents in the opening game of the campaign last month.
The Highlanders have the week off, before facing the Blues in Dunedin on August 2.
Mauger says the team is looking forward to the week off after four brutal derbies.
"We'll take the bye happily," he says. "We're a bit banged up, to be fair.
"This was the fourth game in a row for us. I thought we were just hanging in there and I think that was probably reflected in our slow start.
"So we've got to take those lessons, because we can't afford to start like that again in our last three games.
"But I'm extremely proud of the fight and the belief in this group. I think they just responded to halftime, and went out there and played our game, created opportunities and finished them off."
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