Crusaders 46 Lions 19
Even with a selection hokey-cokey, the Crusaders were able to despatch a Lions side determined to restore some semblance of pride after being mauled in Sydney.
That's the way it is with the Crusaders - they can shuffle things and suffer no loss of momentum. Strength in depth is not a problem.
Colin Slade, making his first start of the season in what is now the unfamiliar role of first five, didn't take any time to get into it.
Jonathan Poff, a name not well known, scored a try in a promising 80 minutes on the openside and while the home side were not quite as fluent or as penetrative as usual, they were fairly impressive in the context of this being a weakened team.
It didn't help them either that the Lions were more cohesive than expected and full of running. Results have not gone their way this campaign and they could well finish with the wooden spoon.
The shame of that is that the Lions have shown more enterprise and ability in 2010 than they in the last five years combined.
Where they have been hurt, and this was the case again yesterday, is in their inability to tighten up on defence. The Crusaders opening try had no business being scored.
One half-hearted attack went a few phases left and when the ball returned right, the Lions defence had mysteriously disappeared. Sean Maitland just had to run then run a bit more and he had scored.
Even when the Lions did fight their way back in - when Hannes Franklin cleverly saw that the Crusaders were not defending directly behind the ruck and jumped over the bodies to sprint away - they immediately let the Crusaders back into the game.
Teams that can't keep the pressure on, who concede points immediately after they have scored them, tend to endure long, hard seasons.
When the Lions couldn't pin the Crusaders down in the first half and put them under any sustained pressure, it was always going to be a case of them having their finger in the dyke.
The Lions have been on the road for four weeks and not only are limbs weary, confidence has been sapped.
If the Crusaders had been sharper in the first quarter of the second period, the score could have been ugly. But they returned looking as if they had overdone the half-time biscuits.
Much of their play became lateral and clumsy, as if they felt the Lions would magically disintegrate against even the most flimsy attack. It took the cut and thrust of Thomas Waldrom and Ryan Crotty to put the Crusaders on track, and the arrival of Dan Carter off the bench.
Waldrom made the critical break to set up Adam Whitelock to score a try that pushed the Crusaders to safety, but it was Crotty's overall contribution that was more significant and he is maturing into a stunningly good second five.
If he can develop a more obvious kicking game, he is going to be of serious interest to the national selectors.
So too was the arrival of Chris Jack early in the second half. The big lock, three years after bidding farewell to the Christchurch faithful, was back in a Crusaders jersey. He's back with a genuine desire to rekindle his international career and will be watched closely.
For the paying spectators, it was a different battle that was holding their interest. Carter entered the fray shortly after Carlos Spencer had slotted into first receiver for the Lions and all of a sudden the clock had been wound back.
It didn't have the same bite when these two last played against each other on the same ground in 2004, but it was fun none the less.
Crusaders 46 (J. Poff, A. Whitelock, S. Maitland (2), W. Heinz tries; C. Slade 5 pens, 3 cons), Lions 19 (H. Franklin try; B. Francis 3 pens, con; E. Rose pen).
