Having watched their New Zealand conference rivals the Chiefs, Highlanders and Hurricanes score victories this weekend, the Crusaders needed to do the same at Suncorp Stadium tonight, a place where their 2011 title dreams went up in smoke and where they haven't won since 2008.
To say they broke that hoodoo in this 57-29 victory is to put it extremely mildly. After a tight first half they went ballistic, huge wing Nemani Nadolo scoring his second try, Wyatt Crockett taking a cheeky quick tap and going over, and wing Johnny McNicholl and No 8 Luke Whitelock showing impressive pace and awareness to score one each before McNicholl scored his second.
The Reds are one of worst defensive teams in the competition and it showed.
Quade Cooper showed flashes of inspiration in the first half, but he simply looks desperate when the Reds are chasing the game as they so often are these days. Their kicking game was poor, their chasing worse.
This six-try bonus-point victory sends the Crusaders up the leaderboard from ninth to fourth. They are now only four points behind conference leaders the Chiefs, who have the bye next weekend.
The Crusaders will host the Sharks and will fancy their chances of extending their winning streak to six.
Although their lineout wasn't quite up to its usual standard, they put enormous pressure on the Reds' scrum.
It was Colin Slade who really caught the eye, however. He kicked 10 from 10 shots at goal and his cutting runs and passing game - his wrap-around ball to Luke Whitelock was instrumental in Nadolo's first try, the former Brisbane boy enjoying a good start in front of his family and friends.
From there it went a bit haywire for the Crusaders, who had halfback Andy Ellis sinbinned for offside at a ruck when the visitors were on their final warning from referee Jaco Peyper.
Wing Jamie-Jerry Taulagi went over in the corner and then Cooper engineered a try for opposite wing Dom Shipperley, with a lovely delayed pass.
The Crusaders were putting on increasing pressure at scrum time though, and the Slade took advantage with two penalties. In the end the Reds were happy to scramble the ball away at halftime with the narrowest of leads.
The second half signalled a 24-point avalanche for the Crusaders, who made a mockery of not only their hex in Brisbane but also their inability to score four or more tries this season. McNicholl's second try, when he took advantage of a Cooper error with his pace and awareness, summed up the night perfectly.
Crusaders 57 (Nemani Nadolo 2, Johnny McNicholl 2, Wyatt Crockett, Luke Whitelock tries; Colin Slade 5 cons, 5 pens), Reds 29 (Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, Dom Shipperley, Rod Davies, Rob Simmons tries; Quade Cooper pen, 3 cons). Halftime: 17-16 Reds.
- Patrick McKendry of APNZ
