The Crusaders have produced a clinical performance to thrash a mistake-riddled Hurricanes side 32-8 at Westpac Stadium.
Jordie Barrett put points on the board early for the home side with a long-range penalty.
Two mistakes from Hurricanes proved costly in the first half, Ben Lam was unable to gather a kick from Bryn Hall and it was Will Jordan who pounced on the mistake to score the opening try.
Chase Tiatia misjudged a David Havili kick in the 24th minute which sent the Tasman fullback over to take the Crusaders lead out to 11.
The back-to-back champions were solid in defence for the majority of the first half before a Matt Todd yellow card allowed Ngani Laumape to score the Hurricanes first try to take it to 17-8 at half-time.
Kieran Read sat on the bench for the entirety of the second half, coming off at the break with an injury to his right leg.
But that didn’t stop the nine-time champions as they kept the Hurricanes scoreless in the second half as they piled on two more tries.
Havili got his second of the night early on in the second half after a Beauden Barrett intercept – another Hurricanes mistake.
Braydon Ennor went over to score his first of the night as the Crusaders captured their first win in the capital since 2012.
The Hurricanes tried to get back into the match but made a mistake at almost every crucial time in the match – ultimately becoming architects of their own demise.
Newshub.
