The Crusaders will need to improve before facing the Bulls in Pretoria next weekend. The Bulls, wearing their unique pink kit, went down fighting to the Stormers 20-17 in an intense game at Cape Town.
"The first half we weren't too pleased with, in the second half we got a bit of a bullet at halftime which really kicked us into gear," Guildford said.
It was perhaps appropriate in the mistake-ridden match that Butch James missed a penalty in front of the posts after the fulltime siren which would have given the Lions a losing bonus point.
The victory enabled the Crusaders to leap the Hurricanes into third place on the New Zealand conference, and put them in sixth place on the overall table.
The Chiefs continued their impressive form with a 30-13 victory over the Waratahs at Waikato Stadium and, like the Crusaders, they made their dominance tell in the second half.
While they didn't manage a bonus point, they succeeded everywhere else. Their scrum again stood firm, they linked excellently on attack and their defence was just as well organised.
Prop Sona Taumalolo heads the team's try-scoring tally - though this time he scored on the right wing rather than amidst the heavy artillery as per normal.
Coach Dave Rennie stressed the importance of the victory on the eve of their travel for games against the Force, Cheetahs and Sharks.
"It's important to keep winning - it becomes a bit of a habit," Rennie said.
"When you travel it's always tough, so meeting the Force next week on their home turf will present different challenges, but we're certainly happy to bank some more points and get on the road as a group."
In a spectacular example of self-destruction, the Hurricanes blew a 21-point lead in the first half to slump to a 47-38 defeat to the Cheetahs in Wellington, their second loss at home in two matches this season.
"We were up on points but we hadn't done a lot with the ball, they were all counter-attack tries," said captain Conrad Smith.
"They were making all the play so I think that told. To their credit, they stuck at it and we weren't getting the turnovers we got early in the game."
The Highlanders blew away the Rebels 43-12 in Invercargill, with flanker Adam Thomson marking his return from a neck injury by scoring a hat-trick.
The Stormers' hard-fought victory over the Bulls allowed them to retain first place overall on the table. They are the only unbeaten team with five victories from five matches but now face a tough tour Down Under where they play the Highlanders, Crusaders, Reds and Force.
For the defending champion Reds the season has gone from bad to worse. Fresh from their thrashing at the hands of the Bulls in Pretoria, they slumped to 45-19 defeat to the Force in Perth.
Skipper James Horwill was straight to the point afterwards. "We didn't play very well," he said.
