They inched away from the Highlanders in the last quarter of the game last night to win 34-19.
It all came down to one brilliant off-load by Leicester Fainga'anuku and a determined finish by Will Jordan.
Highlanders coach Tony Brown thought his side put up a spirited performance until the 60-minute mark. That is when some fatigue set in.
"The Crusaders got on top of us there. But I'm pretty proud on the boys,'' he said.
"Any Highlanders' supporter would be proud of them tonight.''
"Our defence was unreal until a couple of X-factor players cut us to pieces at the end.
"Those guys have been doing it to the best rugby teams in the world, so I can't fault the effort and attitude.''
It certainly was a willing contest behind closed doors at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
And it was, well, a quieter experience. No crowd. No Zoo. No colour.
There was some noise, of course. A dozen people clapping each team on. Two masked people performed a Mexican wave. You could almost hear the Segway cut across the grass tops before play got under way.
The players' grunts came through loud and clear. The scary thud of each tackle echoed around the venue like a reoccurring nightmare.
Thank God Sam Gilbert cut through a gap early to score under the posts.
Rugby felt normal again, and the volume went up. The Highlanders' bench made enough noise for thousands.
After 13 minutes the home side found itself up 13-0 and looked the more potent of the two teams.
The Crusaders were stunned into action. Elusive winger Seve Reece rolled a lovely grubber through which Connor Garden-Bachop went down on and held on to for too long.
The visitors got the penalty and Reece took a quick tap and barrelled over.
Reece went in again; out wide this time. The Crusaders had been rumbling a maul towards the line but changed tack and pushed the ball through the hands out to Reece.
Burke drilled a penalty right on halftime to give the visitors a 17-16 lead.
The half proved costly for the Highlanders. Winger Josh Timu went off after about 20 minutes and loosehead prop Ethan de Groot joined him on the sideline in the 35th minute. Late in the game James Lentjes took a knock.
"It is unclear at the moment, but I think Josh has done a knee. Ethan has a bit of a rib [complaint] which is hopefully not too bad. And James has a bad neck which he has had for a while.''
Highlanders first five Mitch Hunt landed a fourth penalty to open the scoring in the second stanza. It was a modest reward for a couple of promising attacking forays.
Aaron Smith then made a vital turnover to snuff out a dangerous play, then got subbed.
On came Folau Fakatava — the last of the Highlanders' back replacements.
The home team then rolled on another three reserves for the final 25 minutes.
They almost had an immediate impact. The Highlanders muscled their way up field and Hunt was pulled down just short.
But in a chaotic passage of play Fainga'anuku got a terrific pass away in the tackle to free winger George Bridge and the Crusaders swept up field.
Jordan provided the finish, beating several would-be tacklers and covering the final few steps to the line through utter determination.
That was the difference.
Super Rugby Pacific
The scores
Crusaders 34
(Seve Reece 2, Will Jordan, Tamaiti Williams tries; Fergus Burke 2 con, pen 2, Simon Hickey con 2)
Highlanders 19
(Sam Gilbert try, Mitch Hunt con, 4 pen)
Halftime: 17-16.
