Their main ground through the 2011 Super Rugby season was Carisbrook in Dunedin, with home games occasionally being played in Invercargill and Queenstown.

However, in the 1998, 1999 and 2000 seasons they qualified for semi-finals; hosting the 1999 competition final against fellow South Island team the Crusaders.

[12] The Highlanders eventually became the first New Zealand side to defeat all four South African teams in one season.

[26][b] The Highlanders narrowly lost to the Hurricanes in Napier 35–33 before defeating the Brumbies at Carisbrook on 20 April.

[28] The Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy was also introduced that season to be contested between the Highlanders and Blues.

[29] The match was played at Eden Park, and the Highlanders were ahead 15–3 at half time, and eventually won 20–13.

[27] The Highlanders finished fourth and played the Crusaders in Christchurch where they lost 34–23, although Jeff Wilson did score a try in his last match for the franchise.

In April that year it was revealed a rift had developed between coach Laurie Mains and some of the senior players in the squad.

Three weeks from the end of the round robin they were third, but after losing their remaining three matches fell to eighth for the season.

[37] After ten years the Super 12 was expanded to include two extra teams; the Western Force from Australia, and the Cheetahs from South Africa.

[40] While the fortunes of the franchise had been declining for a few years, they would bottom out with a player exodus following the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

The squad's entire All Black front row of Carl Hayman, Anton Oliver, and Clarke Dermody left for lucrative contracts in Europe, while star first-five Nick Evans moved north to Auckland to play for the Blues, and hugely talented young lock James Ryan was forced to retire at age 24 due to injury problems.

[42] Moore was left with a weak side of young and inexperienced players which would stumble to a franchise-worst record of only 3 wins against 10 losses during the 2008 Super 14 season, and finished as the lowest-placed New Zealand team on the table.

The campaign would prove to be the franchise's most successful in several years, as they raced out to a 3–0 start including a monumental away win over the Bulls in Pretoria.

They remained in playoff contention for almost the entire season, sitting 8–4 at one juncture, before slumping under an injury cloud at the end of the year to finish 8th on the table.

Phil Gifford called the win the "greatest Super Rugby comeback this century".

However, they would lose to the Crusaders in that game (38–14) After 7 rounds of the 2020 Super Rugby season, the Highlanders were 11th overall and 5th in the NZ conference.

After two more losses, things began to look up for them, beating the Drua 27–24, the Reds (27–19) and the Force (61–10) which put them in quarter-finals contention, since they had many losing bonus points alongside that.

However, they lost their last two games of the regular season, and despite the final round loss to the Rebels (31–30) they only just made it into the quarters thanks to their losing bonus point.

The name Highlanders was chosen after the early Scottish settlers in the lower South Island.

[48] Starting with the 2012 season, the Highlanders moved into the Forsyth Barr Stadium, opened in August 2011.

[51] It is a roofed, all weather stadium with a rectangular configuration, and permanent seating capacity of 25,000 that could be expanded to 30,748 if necessary.

[53] The stadium was also well known for Dunedin's large student population (known as "Scarfies") that occupied the terraces—an uncovered concrete embankment at the eastern end of the ground.

[56] The Highlanders have also played pre-season matches at Centennial Park in Oamaru[57] and at the Showgrounds in Balclutha.

On 28 March 2009, the Highlanders played a home game at FMG Stadium in Palmerston North against the Bulls.

[60][61] ^4 Super Rugby Aotearoa adopted the same format in 2021 as the inaugural tournament in 2020, with the addition of a final between the top two ranked teams at the conclusion of the round robin stage.

A final was played between the top two seeded teams at the conclusion of the round robin matches.

Wilson and Blair also share the record for most tries in a single match with three along with Israel Dagg, Doug Howlett, Ryan Nicholas, Jeremy Stanley, and To'o Vaega.

[65] The squad for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season is:[66] Props Hookers Locks Loose forwards Halfbacks (scrum-halves) First five-eighths (fly-halves) Midfielders (centres) Outside backs Most Games:[65] In their first season the Highlanders were coached by Gordon Hunter before he joined the All Blacks selection panel.

On 21 June 2022, the Highlanders announced that Clarke Dermody had been appointed as head coach of the franchise for a period of three years (2023–2025).