The Crusaders are back where they belong — in the Super Rugby final.

They will make their first appearance in the fixture since 2011 after dispatching the Sharks 38–6 at AMI Stadium tonight.

The home side looked as dominant as they have all season, which suggests they’re peaking at the right time of year.

They scored five tries to none, but it was their second that truly put them on the way.

It came after some quick thinking from halfback Andy Ellis.

He was about to take a tap free-kick, when he spotted a gap, and instead chose to set Dan Carter free.

Carter then found Slade, who juggled the ball before passing it on to the big Fijian wing Nemani Nadolo, who dotted down, stretching their lead out to 15 points.

It would only grow from there.

Willi Heinz, who came on for Ellis after 53 minutes, poached a loose ball at scrum time and bagged a five-pointer, then fellow replacement Johnny McNicholl ended a counter-attack on the 70 minute mark.

For their fifth and final, they pulled out an old favourite, Matt Todd scoring from a rolling maul, just as was seen three times in their last outing.

The Sharks just had nothing to offer, adding to the vast weight of evidence that suggests away teams face a near-impossible task in the finals.

Their best moments came early on.

The game began at a frenetic pace, with the Crusaders eager to pick up where the Highlanders left off last week, and run at the travel-burdened South Africans.

The Sharks did their best to match them, and while both sides were eager to attack, if scrappily, early on, it was the home side that assumed control of the game.

Sharks first-five Patrick Lambie had a shocker in his first start after four months out with injury.

While he did manage two penalties — his side’s only points — several of his open-play kicks went out on the full, while others clearly did not go where he intended.

It was one of his miskicks which led to the Crusaders’ opening try.

McCaw recovered it, and offloaded to Nadolo, who charged up the middle of the field, hitting the Sharks line hard.

From there, it was quickly spread wide, until it ended up with Read, who slipped a tackle and ran it in 30m to score.

Whereas the early exchanges had been marked by plenty of running with ball in hand, both sides turned to their kicking games as the first half dragged on.

The Crusaders were the better side in that aspect of the game as well, running up quickly when on attack and handling securely when on defence.

The Sharks were poor under the high ball, and equally as bad chasing their own kicks.

Their one chance near the Crusaders’ line came towards the end of the first half, after they charged down a slowly-taken clearance by wing Kieron Fonotia.

It was one of the few bad decisions the home side made all night, but one they got away with.

They will now have a chance to play for the Super Rugby title for the first time in three years, against the winner of tonight’s other clash, between the Waratahs and the Brumbies.

Tonight they took care of South Africa’s best side, next week it will have to be Australia’s.

Crusaders 38 (Heinz, McNicholl, Nadolo, Read, Todd tries, Carter 2 cons, 3 pens)

Sharks 6 (Lambie 2 pens)

HT: 16–6