The Highlanders produced a tactical masterclass to upset the NSW Waratahs 35-17 at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, booking a spot in next weekend's Super Rugby final against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Coach Jamie Joseph's side produced a mixed bag of kicks, turning the bigger Waratahs around all night, as the visitors outscored the reigning champions five tries to one to secure an all-New Zealand final.
The Waratahs struggled to find their rhythm as the Highlanders consistently stole the Tahs' lineout ball and controlled the tempo of the game with their tactical kicking.
The Waratahs were seemingly broken on 58 minutes when the Highlanders were awarded a penalty try with flanker Jacques Potgieter sin-binned for a high shot on winger Patrick Osborne, who looked set to score before he was clipped on the head.
Referee Craig Joubert sent the decision upstairs to the television match official, who took his time deliberating before the on-field ref took control of the situation after viewing several replays on the big screen.
The decision prompted plenty in the crowd of 32,632 to chant against the ref but the call, which made the score 27-17, looked a fair one by the South African whistleblower.
The Waratahs had gone 17-15 up early in the second half through Bernard Foley's fourth penalty goal of the night before winger Waisake Naholo kicked for himself and won the race to score his 12th try of the season and make it 20-17 to the Highlanders.
The penalty try came five minutes later and the complexion of the game had completely changed.
A field-goal from five-eighth Lima Sopoaga five minutes from time and a late try from Osborne sealed a deserved victory for the visitors.
The Highlanders led 15-14 at halftime, outscoring the Waratahs two tries to one at the break.
The hosts were first to score through winger Rob Horne, who produced a brilliant one-handed put down while holding off Naholo after taking a Foley cross-field kick on 11 minutes.
The visitors hit back eight minutes later when halfback Aaron Smith intercepted a Wycliff Palu pass off the back of the scrum.
Inside centre Richard Buckman scored the Highlanders' second try of the first half when he broke through several defenders for a good solo five-pointer.
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika questioned the decision to award the penalty try and put Potgieter in the bin, believing Osborne was too low to the ground for the tackle to be deliberate.
"Obviously I have a big gag on my mouth on what I can and can't say, but I know I haven't seen many head-high tackles 30 centimetres from the ground," Cheika said.
"But let's also be mindful of the fact that, yes those decisions went against us, but the key areas where we needed to exert pressure - that being the lineout and the ball from the lineout - we weren't able to manage."
Waratahs captain Dave Dennis admitted the Highlanders got it right tactically and made life difficult for them.
"It just felt like we couldn't get into it. They kicked very well, which we knew they were going to do tactically," Dennis said.
Joseph was delighted with his team's effort.
"I'm really proud of our defence and our pressure. We got a lot of unexpected chances ... it's what we talked about before the game: if we could create a lot of pressure in our defence line, there would be some chances there, and we took every one of those."
The Highlanders coach couldn't see anything controversial in the Joubert's handling of the penalty try.
"I had no doubt that was a yellow card ... any time, in any big match where there's a red or yellow card, it has a massive impact on the outcome of the game, and fortunately that was for us," he said.
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