The Crusaders' quest for a Super Rugby three-peat got underway in style, scoring an impressive 34-19 win over the Hurricanes in Levin.
With a number of high profile stars rested, two fresh faced outfits hit the field at Levin Domain, with several fringe players looking to stake their claims ahead of the new season.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring in style, with Vince Aso scoring in the opening five-minutes after a slick linebreak from Jackson Garden-Bachop.
However, it wouldn't take the Crusaders long to find a scoring touch of their own, with winger Manasa Mataele levelling the scores after some brilliant play from first-five Mitchell Hunt, before hooker Andrew Makalio added another from a trademark rolling maul.
Mataele would score again towards the end of the first half, with the Crusaders taking a 19-7 lead into the break.
The second half saw both sides empty their benches, however a late fightback from the Hurricanes would ultimately fall short, as the Crusaders picked up where they finished off in 2018.
Most pleasing for both sides though, was that today's clash finished with no injury casualties on either team, with Super Rugby now less than two weeks away.
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