Sam Whitelock celebrated his 100th Super Rugby cap with a try inside the opening two minutes as the Crusaders destroyed an inept Melbourne Rebels 85-26 in Christchurch to continue their hunt for the New Zealand title.
The seven-times champions had threatened to eclipse the highest score in Super Rugby - having beaten the New South Wales Waratahs 96-19 in 2002 - but dropped their intensity in the final 15 minutes.
The Crusaders moved to 50 points on the table, one behind the New Zealand-conference leading Waikato Chiefs who thrashed the Queensland Reds 50-5 in Brisbane on Friday.
Todd Blackadder's side had been embarrassed with their poor tactical decisions in heavy rain in the 23-13 loss to the Chiefs in Suva last week and set about dismantling the Rebels from the first whistle.
They were helped by a Rebels side who fell off first-up tackles and turned the ball over constantly with the home team seemingly scoring every time they attacked.
The Crusaders raced to a 33-0 lead inside the first quarter with tries to lock Whitelock, centre Ryan Crotty, lock Scott Barrett, prop Alex Hodgman and winger Nemani Nadolo before Jonny McNicholl gave them a 38-0 lead inside 30 minutes.
It was fitting the Rebels' only first half points came from their own botched lineout following a communication breakdown with scrumhalf Nic Stirzaker scoring under the posts after winger Sefa Naivalu exploited a lazy Crusaders' defence.
Conceding the try, however, only sparked the home side back into action with Crotty grabbing his second try on the stroke of halftime to give his side a 43-7 lead at the break.
The Crusaders continued their dominance in the second half with hooker Codie Taylor scoring twice within the space of three minutes before he set up replacement loose forward Pete Samu with a delicate pop pass that took out two defenders.
McNicholl (twice) and flanker Matt Todd also crossed in the second half, while Rebels centre Matt Hodge, lock Culum Retallick and Naivalu grabbed consolation tries.
The Crusaders host the Wellington Hurricanes in their final regular season game next week. – Reuters