Former Wallabies star James O'Connor and debutant halfback Kyle Preston have already made an impact with the Crusaders.
The pair put in impressive performances off the bench to help the Crusaders to a 33-25 season-opening Super Rugby Pacific win over the Hurricanes in Christchurch on Friday night.
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Wellington No 9 Preston scoring a hat-trick against his own provincial franchise as he stepped into the game after 10 minutes and excelled for the Crusaders, following play, creating it and being rewarded. He also had a try disallowed.
Although they won, the home side will need to tighten up discipline with a yellow card given to All Blacks captain Scott Barrett in the fourth minute of play.
For the Canes, there was danger when Kini Naholo had the ball but in reality it was a game they should have held onto after leading 14-0 and then 22-14 at halftime.
In a rare start, Caleb Devery crossed for a couple of tries and showed plenty of energy in both attack and defence.
Meanwhile, the Highlanders will rue the match that got away from them in their clash with the Waratahs in Sydney.
The home side won 37-36 as replacement prop Siosifa Amone charged over and replacement Jack Bowen converted for the win after eight lead changes in the second half.
Star recruit Joseph Suaalii did exactly what was expected for the Tahs. He starred, particularly in the air and will be have to marked hard in future, albeit for one error which led to an opposition try,
Equally potent was Highlanders backline player Caleb Tangitau who opened the scoring and nabbed a second as well. TimoTavatavanawai was controlled and effective in the midfield
Tangitau was yellow-carded in the 40th minute for not releasing, while Mitch Dunshea was also given 10 minutes in the sin bin to close out the first half , which did not help the side, but otherwise the forwards tackled like demons.
Crusaders 33 (Kyle Preston 3, Callum Grace, Sevu Reece tries; Taha Kemara 3 con, James O'Connor con) Hurricanes 25 (Caleb Devery 2, Kini Naholo tries; Harry Godfrey 2 con, pen, Callum Harkin pen)
NSW Waratahs 37 (Siosifa Amone 2, Leota, Porecki, Max Jorgensen tries; Tane Edmed 2 con, pen, Jack Bowen con) Highlanders 36 (Caleb Tangitau 2, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Veveni Lasaqa, Sefo Kautai tries; Sam Gilbert 3 con, pen, Cameron Millar pen)