Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger said the side had talked all week about matching the intensity of the Crusaders but doing it was another matter.
"We certainly talked about the intensity of the Crusaders and we were not quite where we needed to be in that first half and did not match it," Mauger said after the game.
"They were just on top of us and we could not quite recover. We asked a bit more from our guys in that second half. Just to get set, be in position and then the speed of ball came down by about 25% and we put their game under pressure."
Mauger said the missed tackles came down to individual mistakes.
"They are a class outfit and have good athletes right across the grass. Sometimes there was nothing on and they would just break a tackle. We need to be better individually in some of those moments.
"It’s not that we can’t do it. We just have to work hard to get in the right position."
He praised the comeback in the second half and the attack again made progress and the team had looked threatening.
He had no issue with the yellow card given to flanker Shannon Frizell but questioned the tactics of the Crusaders when under pressure.
"I thought there were opportunities to put Crusaders in the bin when we were hard on attack in the 22 and players were killing the ball. A little bit of consistency would have been good there."
He said captain James Lentjes was asking referee Mike Fraser about that issue as was the assistant referee but Fraser opted not to make action.
Mauger said lock Josh Dickson was hit hard on his rotator cuff and the decision was made to bring him off at halftime.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson praised his side’s performance and was glad to get the bonus point.
Scrambling defence at the end showed how desperate the side was right through the game.
The Crusader left plenty of points out on the field but Robertson said at least the team was creating opportunities.
The Highlanders play the Rebels in Dunedin this Friday night while the Crusaders have a bye.