Centre Jack Goodhue grabbed a brace of tries as the Crusaders completed a 62-24 bonus-point romp over the hapless Bulls at Loftus Versfeld to extend their winning run to 10 matches in Super Rugby this season.
The Crusaders ran in 10 tries as their quick hands and clever kicks carved holes in the Bulls defence in what was a scintillating display of attacking rugby that earned them their first victory in Pretoria since 2008.
The Canterbury-based side are now closing in on their own record of 13 consecutive wins in the tournament set en route to lifting the trophy in 2002.
There were nine try-scorers on the night for the visitors as they led 31-3 at half-time after Goodhue, flank Peter Samu, centre Tim Bateman, lock Scott Barrett and wing Seta Tamanivalu had all scored.
Any thoughts of a Bulls regroup at interval were quickly extinguished as the Crusaders kept up the intensity and scored more tries through fullback David Havili, first-five Richie Mo'unga and Goodhue.
There was some reprieve when Bulls centre Jesse Kriel raced clear to dot down for the home side, but it was short-lived as hooker Andrew Makalio and replacement number 10 Mitch Hunt crossed for further scores.
Wing Jamba Ulengo and centre Jan Serfontein grabbed consolation tries for the home side.
"It's good to get a win and here of all places. We haven't had a good record here and the boys were fired up for that challenge all week," Crusaders captain Matt Todd said.
"We knew we had to match the Bulls from the start, they come out here out and if they get momentum, they can be a bloody hard team to stop. So we knew we had to fire the first shots, so to speak. The boys were up for it and met that challenge."
The Crusaders travel home to face the Wellington Hurricanes next Saturday, while the Bulls face another stern New Zealand challenge in the form of the visiting Otago Highlanders in Pretoria.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT David Havili of the Crusaders.