In his first start for the Crusaders this season in his favoured first five-eighths position, Colin Slade contributed 21 points and was named 'Man of the Match' after the 46-19 win over the Lions in their sixth round Super 14 match in Christchurch on Saturday.
Slade's way in the No. 10 jersey has been blocked at the Crusaders by the presence of All Black Dan Carter, but he has competently played at fullback or on the wing in the earlier rounds.
Against one of the competition battlers, Slade was given his chance against the Lions by coach Todd Blackadder with Carter named on the bench and he rewarded that faith with a tidy over-all performance and a reassuring goal-kicking display which saw him slot eight of his 10 attempts at goal, the highlight being a 52m penalty in the second half.
Even when Carter came on a substitute the goal-kicking duties remained with Slade and he responded well for most of his kicks were on the angle.
Slade said afterwards that he practised his goal-kicking diligently although knowing Carter was the first-choice kicker.
"It can be frustrating if you don't get the kicks at the weekend but you've still got to do the hard work just in case and I'm glad I got the opportunity tonight.
"I enjoyed being back in the No. 10 because it's been a while and it is my preferred position but the way things have worked out I haven't had a lot of opportunities there.''
The Crusaders, down 6-0 early, led by only six points at half-time (22-16) and Slade agreed that the home team had not stamped any authority on a match it was expected to win in a canter.
"They had a lot of the ball in the first half and while they didn't do a lot with it they starved us of possession. We were giving away penalties and were on the back foot and when we had the ball it felt like we had to do something with it and perhaps we forced things a bit,'' Slade said.
But we came into the game with a mind-set to play positive rugby - the intent was there but the execution wasn't all the time. It's never going to be perfect but in the end we got the five points and that was what we were after.''
The Crusaders have the bye next round and while the squad is relatively injury-free, Slade said the week off was welcomed.
"There's a long way to go yet and it's nice to have the bye, rest up, and come back out firing.''