Crusaders wing it, Force cop third-straight Super loss

It was the Crusaders' (3-1) second impressive defeat of Australian opposition after last Sunday's rout of the Queensland Reds, while the Force have lost three-straight games since beginning the season 2-0.

Simon Cron's Force squad rested stars Nic White, Ben Donaldson, Hamish Stewart and Carlo Tizzano, while Dylan Pietsch (knee) and Nick Champion de Crespigny (concussion) were injured.

But they were in the thick of it early, three times taking the lead in the first half thanks to Mac Grealy and Will Harris tries and opportunistic penalty kicks.

Crusaders kicker Taha Kemara's (one-of-five) shocker off the tee also helped the visitors stay in it.

But Australian journeyman O'Connor, who debuted as a 17-year-old for the Force in 2008, replaced him at flyhalf after 50 minutes and quickly put the game out of reach.

He was generally elusive and set up Springer's third with a neat dummy and dart through the line, before twice nailing sideline conversions as a 20-18 halftime lead quickly ballooned.

Reece and Springer were gifted a handful of their tries but did plenty of their own dirty work, both chipping ahead to themselves brilliantly to set up the latter's fourth and fifth tries.

"We were a little frustrated, to be fair … some of the elements are not where they want them to be," Crusaders coach Rob Penney said, ahead of next week's mouth-watering Eden Park date with the Blues.

"We're relying on some of our outstanding individuals to get in front.

"But it's early days and we had the bye in round two ... a bit of a road block ... but we're back on track and we're going to need to be better (against the Blues)." 

Impressive Force captain Jeremy Williams was rewarded with a try with 12 minutes to play as the Force, coming off a heavy loss in Sydney to the NSW Waratahs, scrambled for a bonus point.

But Crusaders fullback Will Jordan finally got a try of his own to snuff out any prospect of that, even with Force winger Harry Potter's late, runaway five-pointer. 

"In the first half, we matched their physicality - really happy to keep in the fight but then let that second half slip so it's something to work on," lock Williams said.

The Force, who beat the ACT Brumbies in Canberra in the second round, return to Perth to host the Fijian Drua.

"We had a great start to the season and will learn from the last couple of games and look forward to getting back to Perth," Williams said.