Well Done to the Highlanders

Probably the best  allround team over all the games- even though the touch rugby Hurricanes won more close matches. The hurricanes just seemed to slip under the radar for most of the tournament- and suddenly they had a run away lead. 
The Stormers had them on the ropes but the backs waisted possesion to lose the game. 
The Hurricane forwards/fetchers were not up to standard against the Highlanders and seemed more of a netball club

 Highlanders 2nd highest points scored during the season - 2nd only to the Canes. The Conference system relegated them to 4th and made them play the Chiefs and travel while the Tahs enjoyed a Home Semi final berth and a week off. The silver lining in the cloud was those 2 games fine tuned their game for the Grand Final.

 Justice indeed .

 Well the Highlanders made a mockery of the whole ' cant win without home ground advantage " bizzo didnt they ?Cheers to all the teams that played in the s15 for giving us the best comp of its kind bar none !Slightly less cheers for the stinky tahs though with their coach sanctioned grubbiness ..[ It seems I am being moderated on the roar for calling skelton "Lard Lad " you can call Saffa and Kiwi players anything you want but dont say narsty things about their pwecious wee Aussie grubs]

 Very sporting of you Sharkbok.

 JW
The problem with the Hurricanes all along has been their Tight 5.  I  think they have an excellent backline - although Barrett in the last few games was not up to standard, but always had reservations about their forwards.
A typical example was when the Hurricanes was on their tryline attempting to score a try and the ball was held up leading to a scrum - with the props (I think it was Franks) collapsing the scrum and a penalty awarded to the Hurricanes.
I think the Highlanders thoroughly deserved their victory - as they had the best all-round team.   I made a reference under another thread to their game against the Stormers - where the Stormers forwards could not get the upper hand against the Highlanders and the latter team beat them easily.   In the game the next week the Hurricanes forwards were in full retreat against the Stormers in both mauls and scrums and needed the active assistance of the referee to win that game.
Although NZ supporters generally do not agree with me on the issue - to be a successful team you need a balance incorporating sound forward play and excellent backline play.   That balance was there in the case of the Highlanders yesterday - but not entirely so in the case of the Hurricanes, so the result was a logical one.
After years of struggling Joseph got it right this year.   I can remember how in recent years there was a constant call for his replacement because of the Highlanders struggling in Super 15 and he can really say "up yours" after yesterday.    

 Yes it is indeed sporting of Mr Sharkbok J-W .remiss of me to say so .Mikey you were going well untill you started in on the refs ! 

 Wardad: reference to the ref is almost obligatory for many posters. Congrats to CleverMike for successfully avoiding mentioning Steyn's & a few other of his "favorites" he usually is very inventive in managing to do so

 Yes indeed Jay-Dubya Mr Mikey should be an Olympic archer what with his ability to draw a long bow on any subject no matter how small an opening to his favourite subjects !

Yes - well done Highlanders. What a great playoff run. Fun to watch and a fantastic final.
Final game showed just how good the NZ teams are at offloading in the tackle, the quick recycle, running lines and support play. Any team that even hopes to compete will have to challenge every single breakdown and nullify the offload and recycle as much as possible. Dirsuptive, combative defense the best offense because any turnover created against a team in full out attack is a prime opportunity to score. Both the Highlanders and Hurricanes created some critical turnovers at opportune times to stem the other sides attack.