It is easy to write off the Crusaders' loss to the Chiefs on Friday as a bad night in front of the posts, writes Justin Marshall. But for me the Crusaders' concerns should run deeper than that.

The injuries continue to mount and the possession stats are still deficient, but the Chiefs keep on winning.

The Chiefs had injury dramas before they played the Crusaders, now they have even more but frankly, I doubt whether it will slow them down much, writes Richard Loe.

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie laments the penalties and the injuries but will take the win, Richie McCaw and Todd Blackadder say the Crusaders didn't take their chances and were 'thier own worst enemy'.

As a statement, this is about as good as it gets from the Chiefs.

Join us here for tonight's live blog from the Super Rugby match between the Crusaders and the Chiefs from AMI Stadium in Christchurch.

Aaron Mauger updates nzherald.co.nz on the Crusaders as they prepare to start the 2014 season against raining champions the Chiefs, we ask what's different and how can they regain the Super Rugby crown?.

Five seasons and counting. Recollections of the Crusaders' supremacy are fading as they continue to go through their close-but-no-cigar routine, writes Wynne Gray.

As a coach, Todd Blackadder is prone to all manner of sayings, and one of his standard lines is the one about the definition of insanity being the inclination to do the same thing over and over again, all the while expecting a different result.

Joe Moody credits his wrestling background with providing him with the requisite mental strength for top rugby and he will need all of that determination this season as he battles back from ankle surgery.

The Rugby Herald team give their expert opinion & analysis on the upcoming 2014 Super Rugby season. Radio Sports Nigel Yalden joins Gregor Paul from the Herald on Sunday and Patrick McKendry from APNZ newswire to 'crystal ball' the season ahead.

The Crusaders have started its 2014 season on a winning note, despite missing its superstar trio.

New Zealand's Super rugby conference is primed for a high-octane start next year with a clash between the Chiefs and Crusaders.

The Crusaders continue to wait on Julian Savea, with an apparently straightforward process - stay with the Hurricanes or move on - looking increasingly complicated.

The Crusaders have made a big step towards making up for the loss of Dan Carter next season with the expected signing of All Blacks wing Julian Savea from the Hurricanes.

The Crusaders had momentum going into the play-offs, but tripped up again. Not good enough for a team with seven titles, writes Patrick McKendry.

On a night when the future of Super Rugby was cast into doubt, the Chiefs showed they were a team for the present, downing the Crusaders in a semifinal thriller.

Watch a replay of our live blog from tonight's Super Rugby semi final between the Chiefs and the Crusaders from Waikato Stadium.

Kieran Read last year watched the Crusaders' semifinal defeat to the Chiefs in Hamilton from the discomfort of his couch.

Todd Blackadder lives in a house about a kilometre from Crusaders' headquarters in suburban Christchurch.

What is shaping up as an epic semifinal deserves a similarly gigantic subplot.

The swagger has come from the Crusaders, the stagger from the Chiefs.