The Crusaders won a record-equalling 13th straight Super Rugby match yesterday, downing the Rebels 41-19 in Melbourne.
The New Zealanders scored six tries to three but encountered stiffer resistance from the Rebels in the second half after leading 31-7 at the break.
The victory equalled the record held by the 2002 Crusaders.
The win also stretched New Zealand's dominance to 20-0 over Australian opposition this season.
It was the Crusaders' 11th consecutive win over Australian teams and kept them firmly entrenched at the top of the New Zealand log.
Jed Brown scored two tries and other touchdowns came from Manasa Mataele, Seta Tamanivalu, David Kaetau Havili and Mitchell Drummond. Flyhalf Richie Mo'unga landed four conversions and a penalty.
The seven-time champions dominated territory and possession, made 15 line breaks and ran a total of 795 metres with some scintillating passages of running rugby.
The Rebels, under threat of being dropped from next year's competition, outscored the Crusaders 12-10 in the second half with rugby league winger convert Marika Koroibete scoring two tries.
But Melbourne had more bad luck in their fifth straight defeat with an apparent serious arm injury to their Wallaby back-rower Sean McMahon.
McMahon suffered a suspected broken left arm seven minutes from the end, putting him in doubt for the Wallabies' first test of the season, against Fiji in Melbourne on June 10.
The Crusaders still have to play Kiwi title rivals the Highlanders and the Hurricanes in their remaining two games.
Force shut out Reds
The Western Force have ended the Reds' Super Rugby play-off hopes with a 40-26 victory on Friday night in Brisbane.
The Reds needed a win to stay alive in the race for the Australian region, but the Force overran them with 17 unanswered points in the second half. Tatafu Polota-Nau sealed it for the Force with a 70th-minute try, while Peter Grant's fourth penalty of the night was the final nail. Grant didn't miss a kick all night and contributed 18 points as the Force leapfrogged the Reds on the log.
The Reds also suffered from yellow cards against wing Eto Nabuli and flyhalf Nick Frisby.
It will be a sore point for Reds coach Nick Stiles, who had brought in referees to training during the week in an attempt to stamp out the root causes of their costly ill-discipline.
Force coach Dave Wessels was delighted with the turnaround from his side after they were demolished last week at home by the Highlanders.
"There was no doubt our intensity won us that game," he said. "I've had a lot of special wins with the Force but that ranks right up there because of the context of where we've come from."
Stiles accused the Reds of taking "soft options" and said their yellow cards were unacceptable.
"I'm filthy," Stiles said. "We can't sustain 80 minutes of football. We're happy to do things in spurts and patches but that doesn't win you football games."
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 