Highlanders captain Ash Dixon says he expected the Vodacom Super Rugby Aotearoa match between his team and the Chiefs to be a lot faster than it was.

The Highlanders clinched a stunning 28-27 victory over the Chiefs thanks to a late drop goal by Bryn Gatland. But the winning captain was not pleased with the stop-start affair the game turned in to.

Both teams struggled with the stricter interpretation of the breakdown and tackle rules, resulting in referee Paul Williams dishing out more than 30 penalties in the game.

Dixon says it is important that they adapt to the new interpretations quickly in order to inject greater pace into the game.

‘I thought the game might have been faster, but it was really stop-start,’ Dixon said.

‘We have got a fair bit of work to do at the breakdown. We were poor and the Chiefs were all over us and we were lucky.’

Chiefs captain Brad Weber, however, said he thought the Highlanders had actually won the breakdown battle.