Highlanders substitute Saula Ma'u thought he had scored the winning try after barging through a desperate Hurricanes defence in the 81st minute on Saturday's clash in Dunedin.

But replays showed Ma'u was brought down just short of the line, with the ball then hidden from view as he made a couple of desperate moves forward while still on the ground.

The on-field referee called it a no-try, and the decision was upheld by TMO.

A week ago Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea was critical of match officials' handling of a final attacking lineout by the goal line as his team suffered a 24-21 loss to the Crusaders.

This time there were no complaints after the Ma'u ruling.

"I think that call could have gone either way," Savea said.

"I'm just grateful we got the call. I think we put ourselves under that pressure.

"We had a decent lead in that game, and I think our discipline let us down and let them back in the game.

"The Highlanders never go away. It's a credit to them. It's just really lucky we got away with the win."

Opposing skipper Aaron Smith accepted the Ma'u ruling but had a different beef with the officials.

"We were one moment away today," Smith said. "It could have been a try there. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.

"But we're getting robbed all the time.

"We had a red card for contact to the head and one of our guys blatantly gets a black eye, and the touchies and ref walk it off like it's nothing.

"All we want is consistency as players and we're just getting no rub of the green at the moment. It's hard to swallow."

The Hurricanes led for most of the match and by 14-6 at halftime after Bailyn Sullivan and Salesi Rayasi scored first-half tries.

The Highlanders rallied in the second half, cutting the Hurricanes' advantage to 17-14 in the 58th minute. They hit the lead for the first time in the 66th minute with a try to Marty Banks, whose conversion put them ahead 21-17.

But replacement Aidan Morgan scored in the 75th minute to reclaim the lead for the Hurricanes and they just held on for their fourth win in eight matches, while the Highlanders have only one win in eight games this season.

Highlanders lock Josh Dickson was red carded in the 19th minute after collecting Hurricanes prop Tevita Mafileo in the head with his left shoulder.

Australian Associated Press