Barely a word was needed from Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan to sum up his side's devastating Super Rugby final defeat to the Crusaders, with anguish written all over his face, despite his stoic demeanour.
McMillan fronted the post-match media conference alone and began by excusing the absences of co-captains Sam Cane and Brad Weber.
"Just me, team," he said. "As you can understand, there's a few upset boys."
Given the nature of their defeat, justifiably so.
Clinging to a late lead, the Chiefs' heroic tryline stand eventually broke under the weight of Crusaders rolling mauls - and some of their own indiscipline - as Codie Taylor provided the killer blow to a storybook ending their stellar campaign arguably deserved.
With just three minutes to play, Damian McKenzie had one final - albeit difficult - opportunity to steal victory, but his 53-metre penalty attempt fell agonisingly short of the crossbar - a perfect encapsulation of their campaign.
"I'll tell you what the initial feeling is - a lot of hurt," said McMillan.
"Extremely proud of my guys. I think they threw the kitchen sink at those guys and asked a lot of questions of them.
"We'll reflect once we have the opportunity at some stage to have a look at the game and figure out what we could've done better, but at this stage, all I can say is it hurts, and I'm extremely proud of the season and the way that we fronted up tonight."
In a contest of momentum swings, the Chiefs seemed to have gained the ascendency, as their lethal backline began to stretch the Crusaders defence.
When Emoni Narawa crossed on the back of slick lineout move in the 55th minute, the belief exploded across the soldout FMG Stadium, but the try that could have extended their lead to 12 points was erased on TMO review, when Damian McKenzie was ruled offside at the lineout.
As has become their trademark, the Crusaders fought their way back and established field position, before Taylor sank the dagger into Mooloo hearts.
"It sucks, eh," said McMillan. "This one's going to hurt for a little while, but that's finals rugby isn't it?
"There's always going to be a winner, there's going to be a loser."
The Chiefs were previously undefeated against the southerners this season, dominating them at Christchurch in the opening round, then proving it was no fluke at Hamilton in Apri, but when the lights were brightest, the Crusaders' championship mettle got them over the line.
"We threw enough bullets to win the game," said McMillan. "On a different night, maybe we would’ve got the job done.
"There's nothing between these two teams and anyone could've won this game. Unfortunately, it wasn't us.
"The championship is defined on a few moments tonight, but a few moments don’t define this team."
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they were often their own worst enemies. Indiscipline cost them dearly, falling on the wrong side of the penalty count and incurring three yellow cards, the last of which denied them Cane's valuable presence for the crucial final 10 minutes.
McMillan was reluctant to fire any shots at referee Ben O'Keeffe, leaving the Hamilton crowd to voice their disapproval on his behalf.
The most bitter taste of their final defeat was that it denied them a chance to send off their departing players on a championship high.
Centurions Brodie Retallick (Japan) and Brad Weber (France), as well as Alex Nankivell (Ireland) and Pita Gus Sowakula (France), were desperate to reward the Chiefs faithful with a third title, but it wasn't to be.
"That's why it hurts so much, because we've got some real legends of the game [leaving].
"I know the [Crusaders] had some guys leaving and a lot was made out of that, but we've got some pretty special rugby players that are leaving our environment.
"They're going to be hard to replace, but tonight won't define them. They're legends of the game, especially in this part of the world."
