Highlanders winger Waisake Naholo powers through to score a try against the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Aaron Smith might not have been born in Highlanders' country, but if you sliced the wee bloke open you wouldn't be surprised if he oozed blue and gold.

Down in Dunedin they like to talk about having "skin in the game", a reference to those players who feel emotionally attached to the resurgent Super Rugby franchise, and at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday night you could see what that statement meant.

These Highlanders don't have the movie star names all over their playing roster but they have heart and courage.

ROB JEFFERIES/GETTY IMAGES Highlanders' Malakai Fekitoa goes on the attack during the Super Rugby playoff clash with the Chiefs in Dunedin.

The result? A 24-14 victory over the Chiefs in their quarterfinal and a date in the semifinal next weekend.

We saw that at the enclosed arena, which at times was so loud it almost made your eardrums shake, and it was Smith - who hails from Manawatu - that epitomised what it means to be a Highlander.

Smith created both tries for right wing Waisake Naholo with brilliant runs off scrums, while playmaker Lima Sopoaga put the icing on the cake by kicking four penalties and a conversion.

The Highlanders had plenty of eager soldiers, whether it be fullback Ben Smith, co-captain and No 8 Nasi Manu (subbed after just 53 minutes because he hadn't played in a month), dreadlocked openside flanker Dan Pryor or … you could throw a blanket over all of the forwards' names and be safe and saying they deserved the praise for the way they tackled anything in white and kept their composure under extreme pressure.

Crucially for the Highlanders, their scrum was rock-solid and although a couple of lineout misfires created anxiety they remained composed right until the final bell.

The Chiefs kept fighting but apart from a try to their magnificent lock Brodie Retallick they couldn't breach the line and didn't get the dominance they hoped to get from their scrum.

Fullback Damian McKenzie's counter-attacks often raised the hairs on the Highlanders players' necks. McKenzie's impulsive nature may result in his coaches choking on their Minties at times but, you have to say, this kid is a real talent.

The Highlanders needed to bomb the back space to get back downfield but the problem was the uber-confident McKenzie was often there as a sweeper to put his side back on the attack as he looked for runners to pop open the defensive line.

Old heads would no doubt remember the way men like Super Sid Going and Dave Loveridge craftily exploited space down the blindside, and those memories would have burst into their minds as the little imp Smith blitzed the Chiefs from the scrums.

Smith struck twice, once in each half, and the results were spectacular.

In the first spell the All Blacks halfback, sensing Chiefs blindside flanker Mike Fitzgerald still has his right shoulder locked-on to Pauliasi Manu's rump, took off like a frightened hare; what followed was the sort of thing that makes defenders wake-up in a cold sweat in the dead of night.

Smith and Naholo traded the ball between each other as if the pill was a hot coal and at the end of the 55m movement the latter scored to equal Jeff Wilson's record of 10 tries for the southern franchise.

Naholo surpassed Wilson's milestone minutes after the restart and, once again, it was Smith's awareness and acceleration that caused the chaos as he gassed away from a 5m scrum, deceived Michael Leitch and Andrew Horrell and flicked a one-handed pass for his wing to score.

That set in motion a night to remember for the southern men.