The Crusaders showed that they are serious contenders for this season's Super Rugby title when they hammered the Hurricanes 14-42 in Wellington.

The Crusaders ripped through the Hurricanes in the first half and had secured their fourth and bonus point try by the 36th minute and at one stage the Crusaders led by 32 points to 0.

All Black Dan Carter marked his 100th match for the Crusaders with a try in the 22nd minute.

The 30-year-old Carter made his milestone appearance at inside center rather than in his usual position at flyhalf but was still influential in a match which mirrored his first for the Crusaders nine years ago.

Carter scored two tries on debut for the Crusaders in 2003 in a match which also resulted in a win over the Hurricanes and the try in this match was his 30th Super rugby try.

In a first half blitz, the Crusaders raced to a 32-0 lead, claiming their first four-try bonus point of the season, before the Hurricanes managed to get on the board with a try on half-time.

The Hurricanes also scored first after the break before the Crusaders regained control through their dominant forward pack to take charge for the rest of the match.

It had been a slow start to the year for the Crusaders, the seven-times Super Rugby champions, but they showed signs of returning to form last week when they inflicted the first defeat of the season on the Stormers.

They stepped up another gear against the counter-attacking Hurricanes, with an impressive All Blacks-stacked forward pack and an astute kick-and-chase game directed by scrum-half Andy Ellis.

The five tries to two victory lifted the Crusaders to five wins from eight matches and moved them into sixth place ahead of the Hurricanes, who now have an even 4-4 record for the season.

Zac Guildford was central in three of the Crusaders first half tries.

He helped get the scoreboard moving, taking an inside pass from Tom Taylor and making 40 metres before freeing the ball in a two-man tackle for Read to cross the line.

He then partnered with Israel Dagg and Ellis to set up a try for Dan Carter. The Crusaders third try was a piece of individual brilliance from Robbie Fruean who fielded a mis-directed kick from Andre Taylor and waltzed through the Hurricanes defence in a 50-metre run to the line.

Dagg scored the first of his two tries when he handled twice in a move with Guildford as the Crusaders backs stretched the Hurricanes from one side of the field to the other.

Tom Taylor then had his only conversion miss of the game, finishing with a haul of 17 points from four conversions and three penalties.

On the stroke of half-time the Hurricanes were eventually rewarded for their persistent attempts to penetrate the Crusaders when Andre Taylor scored in the corner and Beauden Barrett landed the extra points.

The Hurricanes followed that try with an enthusiastic opening to the second half leading to a try for Victor Vito from a tap penalty five metres out from the Crusaders line.

But the Crusaders struck back almost immediately with Taylor's third penalty and Dagg scored his second try when the ball was moved wide after the Crusaders had mounted a series of pick-and-goes on the Hurricanes line.

Final Score Hurricanes 14 (7) Crusaders 42 (32)

Scorers

Hurricanes
Tries - A. Taylor, V. Vito
Pen -
Con - B. Barrett 2
Drop -
Cards -

Crusaders
Tries - K. Read, D. Carter, R. Fruean, I. Dagg 2
Pen - T. Taylor 3
Con - T. Taylor 4
Drop -
Cards -

Match Officials
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant Ref 1: Glen Jackson
Assistant Ref 2: Mike Fraser
TMO: Bryce Lawrence

Teams

Hurricanes

1. Ben May, 2. Dane Coles, 3. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 4. Jeremy Thrush, 5. Jason Eaton, 6. Faifili Levave, 7. Karl Lowe, 8. Victor Vito, 9. Chris Eaton, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Alapati Leiua, 12. Tim Bateman, 13. Conrad Smith (c), 14. Richard Buckman, 15. Andre Taylor.

Replacements:16. Motu Matu’u, 17. Michael Bent, 18. Mark Reddish, 19. Mike Coman, 20. Frae Wilson, 21. Tusi Pisi, 22. Charlie Ngatai.

Crusaders

1. Wyatt Crockett, 2. Corey Flynn, 3. Ben Franks, 4. Tom Donnelly, 5. Samuel Whitelock, 6. George Whitelock, 7. Matt Todd, 8. Kieran Read, 9. Andy Ellis, 10. Tom Taylor, 11. Zac Guildford, 12. Dan Carter, 13. Robbie Fruean, 14. Adam Whitelock, 15. Israel Dagg.

Reserves: 16. Quentin MacDonald, 17. Owen Franks, 18. Luke Romano, 19. Luke Whitelock, 20. Willi Heinz, 21. Ryan Crotty, 22. Tom Marshall.