KEY POINTS:
The Crusaders are starting to look ominous. Hooded-top-wearing youths lurking in the shadows ominous.
Their 25th consecutive home victory at Jade last night was also the biggest in the Super 14 this season. They did it without getting a prolonged look at the summit of their potential, yet
without ever once giving the impression they were going to do anything other than firmly spank the Western Force.
"The guys attended to the detail and through that, things opened up late," said Crusaders coach Robbie Deans. "It started with defence and they took it forward from there.
"The good thing is we now have one group who are all conditioned to the game and we are one as a team and can push on."
It's ominous when the Crusaders can dilly a little here and dally a bit there, put 50 points on a side with realistic pretensions of making the playoffs and then talk of improvements they feel they can still make.
Give them a few more weeks to let the reconditioned All Blacks further assimilate, throw in the pressure of playoff football and this side will be humming along with so much momentum that it's hard to see anyone other than Richie McCaw climbing the podium on May 19.
Those charged with trying to derail the Crusaders will have watched with a rising sense of panic as they tried to assess just where the home side might be vulnerable.
The Crusaders scrum was rock solid and the lineout, even without Chris Jack, was tidy and functional. The work around the breakdown was aggressive and relentless and Daniel Carter waltzed through 80 minutes with his uncanny ability to make the right decision again and again.
Outside him, Rico Gear was hungry and sharp and served well by the straight running of Casey Laulala and the vision of Aaron Mauger.
The only hope the Force had was to pump high balls down on Leon MacDonald and hope he failed to deal with a very wet ball.
There were early glimmers for the Force when they pursued the aerial route. With water splashing off the surface, MacDonald had a few issues early on dealing with the bombs.
It wasn't terminal, though, and the more the Force kicked to him, the better he got at counterattacking and by midway through the first half, the Force had nothing left to throw at the red mass engulfing them.
The visitors couldn't get the ball and couldn't deal with the width and pace of the Crusaders midfield, which is why Gear was able to slice over on the wrong wing after eight minutes when he collected a long MacDonald pass. Even when the Force were able to cut down the runners, they couldn't get numbers over the ball. Every breakdown, there would be McCaw or Reuben Thorne or Mose Tuiali'i or sometimes all three, with Michael Paterson and Ross Filipo (when not helping himself to a hat-trick of tries) there for good measure.
The Force didn't stand a chance when the Crusaders were able to build phase after phase like that.
But what will have really sent little tingles down the spines of those who want to rob the Crusaders of their champion status is the way they were able to mix things up by changing the point of attack.
Filipo clinched the bonus point shortly after halftime when he emerged from the thick of a rolling maul that had begun in Kaikoura and could quite easily have made it all the way to Invercargill.
It was a better example of tight forward play than Tuiali'i's first half try, which was the result of yet more dynamic driving from the forwards.
It was also fitting the No 8 should claim the score as he had made the initial break when he blasted off the back of the scrum with the sort of acceleration that backs up whispers he is the quickest forward in New Zealand over 10 metres.
"He's playing like an All Black," said Deans of his No 8. "In terms of consistency over a long period, I have possibly not [seen him play better].
"He has done it when circumstance has not always been conducive and when it is, he has still made good choices in his carry and people have thrived off him."
His removal after 50 minutes was a sign of how highly Deans regards Tuiali'i. At 29-0 and the bonus point secured, there was no point risking injury to such a valued asset.
McCaw crashed over for the score of the game soon after and it confirmed what Deans already knew - the Force didn't have the players or guile to mount any kind of comeback.
The Crusaders are a big step up from what they have encountered so far and judging by the gulf last night, if the Force are to make amends in 2008, they will have to hope the handicap imposed on the red and blacks is greater than losing seven players for half the campaign.
Crusaders 53 (R. Gear, M. Tuiali'i, K. Read (2), R. Filipo (3), R. McCaw tries; D. Carter 5 cons, pen) Force 0
