The Crusaders scored six tries to take five points from the match and Daniel Carter kicked 20 points.

The Brumbies, who scored four tries, now lead Canterbury and the Stormers by six points at the top of the table.

"We knew we had to be on top of our game if we wanted to win." said Crusaders captain Reuben Thorne.

Auckland kept their hopes of defending their title alive by beating the New South Wales Waratahs 22-17.

The Blues have 12 points and are third from bottom of the table but are just sevens points behind the Crusaders in second place.

Joe Rokocoko did the damage with two tries.

The Wellington Hurricanes picked up a bonus point after their 29-12 win over the Queensland Reds.

The Hurricanes, who led 19-0 at halftime, were tested by a strong second-half revival before Jerry Collins sealed a bonus point with their fourth try two minutes from time.

The Coastal Sharks climbed five places to fourth in the table with a 42-28 win over Golden Cats.

Bottom-of-the-table Cats were playing for the first time under new coach and former Springbok Chester Williams and led 16-10 at half-time.

But the Sharks took the lead three minutes into the second half and never looked back.

On Friday Lome Fa'atau scored a late clincher in a nine-try cliff-hanger to give the Waikato Chiefs a 36-31 win over the Otago Highlanders.

Fa'atau made an angled run to score just eight minutes from time to give the Chiefs victory.

Seilala Mapusua scored two tries and made two more for the Highlanders who went point-for-point with the Chiefs throughout the match.