It was a performance that John Kirwan would have been very proud of his Blues especially after the shock defeat they took at the hands of the Highlanders last weekend.
Even at 17-3 down, the Blues were never out of it and thanks to some brilliance from their wingers, Frank Halai and Tevita Li, they quickly came back to be only behind 17-15 at half-time.
The second half saw total domination from the Auckland based franchise as they played some brilliant, scintillating rugby as they wound up winners 35-24.
The question marks may have been out about John Kirwan's real coaching abilities prior to this game, i.e. was he just a good marketer or really a good coach.
After tonight's game, most of those doubters should be silenced as Kirwan's tactics paid off, including a big gamble to play the inexperienced Simon Hickey as first five - he was magnificent with the boot and ball in hand.
For Crusaders fans, it was deja vu as their side once again is going to have to start from the back after 2 tough defeats to open the season.
Todd Blackadder is a bit like David Moyes, in that he inherited such a successful franchise from a successful coach but hasn't quite moved out of the shadow of Robbie Deans in that he is still to win a Super Rugby title with the Crusaders despite possessing a highly talented team from the core of the dominant Canterbury ITM Cup team.
Yet, not for the first time, the Crusaders are going to have to go on a winning streak just to get right back into contention - and with the champion Chiefs already off the mark and the NZ conference looking as tough as ever with the Blues also looking good and possibly the Highlanders and Hurricanes if they can be consistent, things are going to be hard for the 8-times Super Rugby champions.
Anyway, here are highlights from the game if you missed it!
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