'Lucky' Highlanders played to the end

Hayden Parker was the toast of Dunedin on Saturday, after he came off the bench to kick a late penalty and give the defending champion Highlanders a 17-16 victory over the Hurricanes.

Both sides were first round losers last week and the Hurricanes in particular needed a good comeback after their 10-52 loss to the Brumbies in Canberra.

Midway through the second half they looked to be on track to prove they were better than that when they fought back from 6-14 down to lead 16-14.

Then, they withstood a torrid attack from the Highlanders when Malakai Fekitoa, Liam Squire and Aaron Smith were denied try-scoring opportunities.

But as the clock ticked down, the Highlanders won a penalty about 30 metres from the posts and Parker produced the match-winning kick, much to the relief of captain Ben Smith.

"We were just lucky we pulled through at the end," Smith said.

He also praised his side for their reaction to the missed tries saying they "didn't get too frustrated, and kept playing until the end".

It was a high-octane but error-ridden encounter with one try apiece, and the Hurricanes' stand-in captain TJ Perenara said that ultimately it was the mistakes and penalties that cost his side.

"We need to look at some critical times we made a few errors and let the Highlanders close it out at the end," Perenara said.

"We need to be better than that," he added.

"We turned the ball over, especially down in our half and they camped down there for a fair bit of that second half."