| Run of Play |
| 80 | The final whistle puts an end to this entertaining game. The Chiefs started their title defence in the best way possible, but the new-look Highlanders showed enough to warn all visitors coming to Dunedin this year. |
| 74 | Gareth Anscombe Penalty - A tackle without the ball as the Chiefs hack through. Anscombe slots the penalty to take the lead out to 14, and all but seal the match. |
| 70 | Gareth Anscombe Penalty - Anscombe wants to put this out of reach as he lines up a penalty on the halfway line. He strikes it perfectly, and the flags go up. |
| 66 | Gareth Anscombe Conversion - Anscombe slots the conversion. Can the Highlanders come back one last time? |
| 65 | Tim Nanai-Williams Try - The end-to-end stuff continues. The Highlanders spread from touchline to touchline and look to be away, but a litlle spill and Nanai-Williams races away to score his second. |
| 62 | Gareth Anscombe Conversion - Another lead change as Anscombe converts. |
| 61 | Asaeli Tikoirotuma Try - Tikoirotuma gets next to a ruck, and easily steps his way past his marker. He is over for yet another five-pointer. |
| 57 | Lima Sopoaga Penalty - Another breakdown, another penalty. Sopoaga stretches the lead to six, and it's all Highlanders at the moment. |
| 49 | Lima Sopoaga Conversion - Sopoaga converts. 24-21 for the Landers. How good is it to have Super Rugby back on our screens? |
| 48 | Kade Poki Try - And now it's a try on the other side of the field. Poki is marked by two men, but like Gear before him he steps and hands off and has too much pace for anyone thinking about catching him. |
| 47 | Gareth Anscombe Missed Conversion - Anscombe misses the conversion from the right-hand touchline. |
| 46 | Patrick Osborne Try - This Chiefs side just won't stop. They attack until they have a ruck five metres out. The ball goes wide and two brilliant passes by Cruden and Anscombe gets Osborne over in the corner. |
| 44 | Lima Sopoaga Penalty - The home side is back in the lead, and well deserved. Their first attack of the half was only stopped on the line, and illegally so. Fortunately Sopoaga can add some points. |
| 41 | Sopoaga restarts the action with a deep kickoff. The Chiefs go to the boot, but not very effectively, allowing the Highlanders to attack from halfway, |
| 40 | The halftime whistle goes. |
| 39 | Lima Sopoaga Conversion - Sopoaga converts and it's game back on in Dunedin. |
| 38 | Hosea Gear Try - Beautiful step and handoff by captain Hosea Gear and he scores despite a handful of defenders paying him attention. This is what leading from the front means. |
| 31 | Lima Sopoaga Missed Penalty - Sopoaga lines up his first penalty attempt from halfway. Despite a massive build-up from the commentators his kick is well short and right. |
| 28 | The Highlanders know they will have to be the team to score next, and they continue to attack wide. It starts to look promising, but then Poki is tackled into touch five metres out. |
| 25 | Gareth Anscombe Penalty - The Chiefs are causing havoc out wide and again they are stopped just short of the line. Anscombe comes forward to slot the penalty. The homeside is trouble if this defensive effort continues. |
| 21 | Gareth Anscombe Penalty - The Chiefs start an attack with scrumball on halfway. Cruden wraps around the midfield, but Nonu had him marked, and the big man takes him out with a high tackle. Anscombe extends the lead with the resulting penalty. |
| 16 | Gareth Anscombe Conversion - Anscombe converts and the Chiefs are back in the lead. |
| 15 | Tim Nanai-Williams Try - Tim Nanai-Williams gets the bal in space and has way too much pace for the cover defence. He strikes back immediately for the Chiefs. |
| 13 | Lima Sopoaga Conversion - Sopoaga pops over the conversion. |
| 12 | Ben R Smith Try - The Chiefs win a turnover on halfway, and with some offload play they run right up to the tryline. They win a penalty, but it is tapped. Smith picks up an offload off his bootlaces and plants it next to the right-hand upright. |
| 8 | Another penalty against the Highlanders breakdown on attack. This time they were on the Chiefs 22. They will have to sort this out quickly, as they are quite keen to attack with ball in hand. |
| 4 | Gareth Anscombe Penalty - Anscombe has the first shot at goal here. He lines it up from halfway and gets it to fly well over the crossbar. The penalty came against the attacking team at the breakdown. Expect to see a lot of that in the early weeks of the competition. |
| 1 | Cruden starts the match with a kick away from the Landers pack. The visitors apply good pressure, but the ball eventually does make it safely to touch. |
| - | Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the 'real start to the 2013 Super season. This morning we have the highly-rated Highlanders against the defending champion Chiefs. Couldn't have asked for a juicier start. |