The Crusaders picked up their third victory in the Super14 when they beat the Blues by 33 points to 20 in Christchurch at the AMI Stadium.
The match was on a knife edge at half time with the Crusaders leading by one point at 16-15.
The turning point in the game came 15 minutes into the second half when Ryan Crotty intercepted a pass from Rudi Wulf and ran on to score the Crusaders second try.
That try forced the Blues to chase the game which played into the Crusaders hands as they could adopt a more pressured game plan and the Blues started to make mistakes and conceded another try.
As the clock ticked towards full time the Crusaders looked for the bonus point try but it was the Blues who scored when Alby Mathewson sniped from the back of a ruck to score.
Carter kicked seven goals from seven attempts - three conversions and four penalties - for 18 points to steer the seven-time champions to victory.
Brett, in his first match for the Blues against his former team, kicked four penalties and a dropped goal for 15 points.
The Crusaders scored tries through flanker George Whitelock plus centers Ryan Crotty and Robbie Fruean.
A try 10 minutes after Crotty's by his midfield partner Fruean sealed the Crusaders' win beyone doubt.
"We were a bit rusty in the first half and we didn't seem to play much rugby," Crusaders and All Blacks captain Richie McCaw said.
"It was pretty close at halftime but we felt if we stuck at it the opportunities would come and they did."
"It wasn't pretty but that's what games like this are all about." he added.
McCaw played his first full match of the season for teh Crusaders after missing its first two games and starting from the bench in last week's third round.
"It was pretty pleasing just to get out there and it felt good to get a full 80 minutes under the belt," McCaw said.
The Blues pressed teh Crusaders hard in an intensely physical match but couldn't break their defensive line until the 76th minute when Mathewson scrambled over.
"In this competition the difference between making mistakes and not making mistakes is the difference between winning and losing," Blues captain Keven Mealamu said.
"You can't expect to come down here against a team like the Crusaders, make as many mistakes as we did and expect to win."
Final Score Crusaders 33 Blues 20
Scorers
Crusaders
Tries - G. Whitelock, R Crotty, R Fruean
Pen - D Carter 4
Con - D Carter 3
Drop -
Blues
Tries - A Mathewson
Pen - S Brett 4
Con -
Drop - S Brett
Match Officials
Referee: Keith Brown (NZ)
Ass. refs: Vinny Munro (NZ), Josh Noonan (NZ)
TMO: Kane McBride (NZ)
Teams
Crusaders - 15 Jared Payne, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Robert Fruean, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read, 7 George Whitelock, 6 Richie McCaw (c), 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ti'i Paulo, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Reserves 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Peter Borlase, 18 Isaac Ross, 19 Jonathan Poff, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i, 21 Adam Whitelock, 22 Colin Slade.
Blues - 15 Paul Williams, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Benson Stanley, 11 Rudi Wulf, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Alby Mathewson; 8 Viliami Ma'afu, 7 Serge Lilo, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Anthony Boric, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (c), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Reserves 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Filo Paulo, 19 Tom Chamberlain, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 22 George Pisi.
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