Rugby: Victory in the Hand of Mackintosh

The Highlanders celebrate as Bulls players come to terms with their loss in Pretoria. Photo / Getty Images

High in the coaching box in the turmoil at Loftus Versfeld, Jamie Joseph and Simon Culhane exchanged awkward smiles.

They were nearly mute as they absorbed the scale of the Highlanders' latest victory which ended the Bulls 18-match unbeaten streak at Fortress Pretoria.

SUPER RUGBY STANDINGS

Then the strained expressions eased into outbreaks of excitement and backslapping.

The Highlanders' unlikely 35-28 triumph closed the latest round of the Super 15 and left them as the only unbeaten New Zealand side alongside the Sharks and Stormers.

Odds on that? Longer than those offered by Cricket World Cup bookmakers.

Both Joseph and Culhan understood the difficulties of winning in the sporting citadel of Afrikanerdom. Joseph had felt that burn during All Black victories there in the 1995 World Cup.

A year later when Andrew Mehrtens was injured, Culhane donned the black No 10 jersey at Loftus as the All Blacks completed their first series win in South Africa.

Joseph and Culhane were part of great All Black teams. But as rookie Super 15 coaches, they were taking a Highlanders side without a stellar cast into combat against the defending champions.

The Bulls had not been rolled on their home turf in Super rugby combat since 2008. They were three-time champions.

Yesterday morning they faced a side with a solitary senior All Black, Jimmy Cowan, and other bit-part internationals Adam Thomson, Tom Donnelly, Jamie Mackintosh and Ben Smith.

Oh yes ... and Tony Brown who played the last of his 18 All Black tests almost a decade ago in 2001. The 36-year-old has been playing in Japan since 2004 though he did help out the Sharks in 2006.

This time the SOS came because Colin Slade and Lima Sopoaga were both down injured and the Highlanders needed some wisdom to underpin Robbie Robinson.

Brown was on after the break. His ice-cool temperament battled the aches of rugby at a pace he had not endured for some years but the five-eighths guided the Highlanders home.

They had to do it with 14 men when Alando Soakai was sinbinned by referee Stu Dickinson for a professional foul in a ruck.

Fortunately for the Highlanders, Dickinson's vision malfunctioned in the last minute of the match. He missed Mackintosh's sneaky foul when he peered out of the depths of a ruck and slapped the ball out of Fourie du Preez's grasp.

It was a Hand of God incident, one to rival Diego Maradona or Thierry Henry's hand-headers and Graham Purvis' scrum steal for Waikato in their Ranfurly Shield challenge against Auckland.

Golden Glove Jamie got away with it yesterday in Pretoria.

His involvement on tour looked to be in the balance when he twisted his knee last round against the Chiefs. But the burly bearded loosehead prop fronted, grunted and then stunted the Bulls.

The programme does not ease for the Highlanders. They play the Stormers this week then travel to Carisbrook to host the Crusaders before taking their bye.

If they are then still top of the New Zealand section, other franchises will be looking to tap into the Highlanders' secrets.

Mackintosh can save them a lot of research. His side did not have any superstars so they had to find other ways of winning. They worked ultra-hard at breakdowns or on defence to wrest possession.

They wanted men with big tickers, blokes who mirrored the attitudes Joseph and Culhane brought to their rugby. You can't buy that commodity, it is priceless just like the Highlanders' triumph yesterday in Pretoria.