Kevin Senio weighed in with a try in his debut match, and Reuben Thorne, Rico Gear and Casey Laulala helped wrap up the bonus point. Dan Carter landed four penalties and three conversion.

The quality of the Crusaders defence and counter-attacking made the difference, with the Highlanders enjoying more than their fair share of possession but the Crusaders both forcing turnovers and capitalising on them every time. Any clean attacks the Highlanders did make were often ruined by panicked handling, and it cost them dearly.

It was a curiously downbeat first half for a season-opening derby. Aside from the usual mistakes stemming from rustiness, neither team flew into the game with the rush of adrenaline seen in South Africa the night before.

It was also a curious first-half result, with the Crusaders winning the half 18-9 despite conceding seven penalties to the Highlanders' three.

The lead bore testament more to the Highlanders' lack of a cutting edge behind the scrum, and the lack of fifteen safe pairs of hands. After 20 minutes, the penalty count read Highlanders four, Crusaders one. The handling error count read the same, and the score was 10-6 to the Crusaders.

Ben Blair started the season by missing his first penalty in the second minute, and it was left to Dan Carter to notch the Crusaders' first Super 14 points in the eleventh minute, with a simple penalty awarded against a lazy tackler.

Blair restored parity on the quarter-hour, but two minutes later he Crusaders had the first score, with Mose Tuiali'i breaking the line and Reuben Thorne popping up on his shoulder as all good flankers should, to take the pass and score by the posts.

The success of the new partnership between Carter and Kevin Senio will be pivotal to the Crusaders' season, and it got off to a good start here, with Senio much better at giving his fly-half space to dictate the game than Jimmy Cowan was for the Highlanders.

Carter was able to make the game's first clean break as a result, while Cowan was culpable of a large proportion of his team's handling errors, although he was not helped by flimsy back-row protection. That area, the back-row, really made the early difference between the two teams.

Blair and Carter swapped a further penalty apiece, and then Blair added another to make it 13-9 as the teams began to warm up the lukewarm contest, but Senio pounced through a gap created by two quick ruck balls to go over for a debut try. Carter missed the easy conversion, and was fortunate to get away with kicking the ball dead from his own 22, with the half-time hooter coming to his rescue.

Blair and Carter each landed early second-half penalties, but the Highlanders began the half much livelier, with first James Ryan, and then Josh Blackie leading good phases of play. Substitute scrum-half Neil Smylie kept the momentum going, and was much more sure of himself than Cowan had been.

The cutting edge was still sadly lacking though, and the most threatening move of the third quarter came from a turnover, Carter once again leading the breakout.

Ben Blair was notable not only for smothering both Carter and Rico Gear with two separate tackles on that breakout, but also for being one of very few Highlanders prepared to lead a counter-attack of his own. He did so from a wayward Leon McDonald touch-kick on the hour mark, switched with substitute scrum-half Chris Smylie, and had Seilala Mapusua not knocked on the Highlanders might have had their score.

Smylie's attacking prowess also led to the game's most controversial incident. He broke superbly after a rare slick piece of handling between Nick Evans and Craig Newby, and then five metres from the line handed off to prop Clarke Dermody.

Dermody was never given the chance to catch the ball as he was thumped from behind by Leon MacDonald, for which the Crusdaers' full-back was sent to the bin, but referee Lyndon Bray did not see fit to award the penalty try, a decision which prompted even the placid Anton Oliver to vent his frustrations at high volume. "I can't believe it wasn't a penalty try," he said afterwards, but it is a moot point whether Dermody would have outstripped MacDonald even over five metres.

Either way, Oliver's decision to go for posts from that penalty, as opposed to turning the screw with a scrum, was a pivotal moment. Blair landed the kick to make it 21-15, but given that the Highlanders had enjoyed all the second-half pressure up to that hour mark, the Crusaders were more than happy to have lost the third quarter 6-3.

Thereafter, the Highlanders ran out of ideas, and from another turnover and Carter break, Rico Gear swept over the line in his own majestic manner for the third try and the killer blow.

Carter landed a further penalty, and there was just time for the home team to grab a bonus point try, when Casey Laulala picked off a stray pass to coast under the posts.

It was perhaps a little flattering, perhaps a little harsh on the Highlanders who deserved more than this heavy defeat, but it shows that the Crusaders have not lost the killer instinct. The gauntlet is thrown down to the rest.

Man of the match: Ben Blair and Chris Newby stood out for the Highlanders, as did Chris Smylie, who undoubtedly would have won this accolade had he been on the pitch for all eighty minutes. Reuben Thorne was excellent for the Crusaders, and Dan Carter had his regulation controlled game, but it was debutant Kevin Senio who stole the show, providing the quick ball from the turnovers that got the Crusaders going.

The scorers:

For the Crusaders:
Tries: Thorne, Senio, Gear, Laulala
Cons: Carter 3
Pens: Carter 4

For the Highlanders:
Pens: Blair 4, Evans

Crusaders: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Caleb Ralph, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11  Scott Hamilton, 10  Daniel Carter, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Mose Tuiali'i, 7 Richard McCaw (captain), 6 Reuben Thorne, 5 Ross Filipo, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Campbell Johnstone, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Greg Somerville.
Replacements: 16 Tone Kopelani, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Kevin O'Neill, 19 Johnny Leo'o, 20 Andrew Ellis, 21 Cameron McIntyre, 22 Casey Laulala.

Highlanders: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Vilimoni Delasau, 13 Neil Brew, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Roy Kinikinilau, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Filipo Levi, 7 Josh Blackie, 6 Craig Newby, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tom Donnelly, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Anton Oliver (captain), 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Jason Macdonald, 17 Nick White, 18 Hoani MacDonald, 19 Hale T Pole, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Callum Bruce, 22 Richard Kahui

Referee: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Chris Pollock, Greg Watson (both New Zealand)
Television match official: Brent Murray (New Zealand)
Assessor: Kim Eichmann (New Zealand)