Andrew Makalio celebrated his first run-on start for the Crusaders this season by scoring a try in the first half of the Super Rugby match against the Rebels. He also added another in the second spell.
It must be horrible to be an Aussie rugby supporter right now.
The Crusaders are the latest New Zealand team to leave their boot prints all over an Australian Super Rugby club, scoring 40 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Rebels for a record 55-10 win at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Friday night.
The win means the five Kiwis teams have now recorded 37 consecutive wins over their trans-Tasman counterparts, heaping more misery on their embattled neighbours from across the ditch. For the Crusaders the bonus-point victory - their sixth straight win - ensured they stretched their lead at the top of the competition log and also heaped more pressure on the Blues, who are under heat to keep the New Zealanders' golden run alive when they meet the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday evening.
Seta Tamanivalu opened the Crusaders' account with a try in the right-hand corner early in the match against the Rebels in Melbourne.
The Crusaders scored eight tries, and if you were to select the best of the lot it would have to be the one awarded to blindside flanker Pete Samu - the man Michael Cheika wants to represent the Wallabies.
Not that Samu had to do much. All the spade work had been done by French-bound right wing Seta Tamanivalu, who ran around 60m down his channel to beat three defenders, almost pushing them off with contempt, before unloading to Samu.
This was the sort of game all players want to be involved in. The Crusaders looked to have been having a whale of a time as they kept the ball alive, flipping outrageous passes in the tackle and always looking to speed through holes in the shaky defensive wall, while also pitching in with the defensive duties.
It was also pleasing to see first five-eighth Richie Mo'unga put in a good shift in his first game back after suffering a fractured jaw in early March. He created the first try to Tamanivalu, kicked a couple of conversions and a penalty; and most importantly was eager to engage the Rebels' tacklers.
If Rebels coach Dave Wessels had sniffed his water bottle with some suspicion at halftime it would have been understandable, because despite missing 24 tackles it seemed difficult to believe his team could only be behind by three points.
Well, here's the news flash. No-one had spiked Wessels' drinking vessel; that scoreline was simply the reflection of an opening stanza that at times bordered on the whacky.
No-one could say it wasn't entertaining.
Three yellow cards, one to the Rebels' midfielder Reece Hodge and the others to the Crusaders' Matt Todd and David Havili, were issued by referee Nick Briant and three decent tries were scored.
For the Crusaders Andrew Makalio and Tamanivalu crossed the chalk, while Hodge grabbed one for the Rebels. Wasn't it a golden night for hooker Makalio in his first run-on start for the Crusaders; he also scored a try in the second spell, but it was the look on his face after he grabbed his first one that was priceless.
The Crusaders' Scott Barrett was denied another when TMO Ian Smith overruled Briant by saying the big lock had lost the ball over the line, te-mate Jordan Taufua - again one of the best from the title holders - issued a thunderous tackle that is sure to make the highlights reel and the New Zealanders' scrum was in outrageous form.
The last set-piece, in the 40th minute, was like watching a bulldozer rumble through a silage pit; the Rebels forwards, having observed halfback Will Genia feeding the scrum, were forced to scamper backwards in the most ungainly manner which earned the Crusaders a penalty and it was duly converted to three points by Mo'unga.
The loss of class Genia in the 38th minute with a leg injury didn't do the Rebels much good, either. But that was just the start of their problems.
Crusaders 55 (Andrew Makalio 2, Seta Tamanivalu, Jack Goodhue, Pete Samu, Bryn Hall, Wyatt Crockett, Manasa Mataele tries; Richie Mo'unga 2 con, pen; Mitch Hunt 4 con) Rebels 10 (Reece Hodge try; Jack Debreczeni pen, con). HT: 13-10