The Crusaders cemented their first place on the Super 14 standings with a hard-earned 18-10 win over the Sharks in dreadful conditions in Christchurch on Friday.

The cold southerly winds coming through, heavy showers and even hails leaving a white coat on the pith before the game, meant this was never going to be a match of great expansive play.

And it proved to be a real arm-wrestle, with the Crusaders' greater composure ensuring they edged a Sharks team full of endeavour, but short on equanimity.

The Crusaders, with the wind at their backs in the first half, took a 13-10 lead into the break and try as they might, the Sharks could not close the gap - despite now having the elements in their favour.

The Sharks scrum looked solid and they contested well in the line-outs, but the rest of their game in the early stages was very ordinary - especially defence.

However, as the  half went on they became stronger and was in control in the latter stages of the opening half. The Sharks certainly played a great territorial game, while the Crusaders were not always as smooth as they would have like - with the conditions not conducive to their ball-in-hands game.

It certainly looked as if the Sharks were more comfortable with a kicking game, but it was composure that was required and that is where the Sharks fell short.

The first scoring opportunity came after five minutes, when referee Stuart Dickinson (Australia) blew the Sharks for offside in the backline just five metres from their own line. Stephen Brett made no mistake and the Crusaders went up 3-0.

Despite the early points, the conditions did not make for a flowing game and much of the action centred around the halfway line, with errors the main feature of a stuttering game.

It was not till the 12th minute, a penalty to the Sharks for offside by the Crusaders, that anybody looked like scoring. However, Ruan Pienaar's shot at goal drifted well wide.

The Crusaders scored soon afterwards - a call that went to the TMO, who ruled no try, but the referee ruled that he had seen a try being scored by someone afterwards. The try was given to prop Greg Somerville, who emerged with the ball from under a pile of bodies. Brett added the conversion for a 10-0 lead and the Crusaders now looked in control.

It took the Sharks another 10 minutes to get into a position to create a scoring opportunity and it came in the form of another penalty for offside - with the referee also having a chat with Crusaders captain Richie McCaw about consistent offside. Rory Kockott, who took over the goal-kicking from Pienaar, also dragged his shot wide ... from just 15 metres away.

The Sharks did score, when Ryan Kankowski forced his way over from a scrum 20 metres out - handing off four would be tacklers before crossing the line. Kockott added the conversion to narrow the gap to just three points - 7-10.

There was a lucky escape for the Sharks soon after, as some poor defence by allowed Andrew Ellis to slip through a huge hole. Unfortunately the last pass bounced forward off a charging Crusader.

A penalty at a maul allowed Brett to push the gap out to six points again with three minutes of the half remaining.

The Sharks narrowed the gap to 10-13 just before the break, with Kockott kicking the penalty - which came after Crusaders captain Richie McCaw was yellow carded for going blatantly offside ... and that after his team was warned earlier in the half about repeated infringements at the breakdown.

After the break both teams seemed reluctant to carry the ball in hand, with the first 10 minutes resembling a game of force-back - as a lot of kicking ensued.

Just on the 50-minute mark Sharks captain Johann Muller - who came into the game under an injury cloud - left the field with that calf injury clearly troubling him. That brought Jean Deysel into the mix. At this stage the Crusaders had also introduced a couple of replacements into a game with a high attrition rate.

The Sharks, who were having a great passage of play in taking the ball through the phases and controlling the possession, won a penalty just inside the Crusaders half. But Kockott's shot at goal again drifted wide.

In these conditions, where the rain kept pouring down throughout the match, it was always going to be a game won or lost on one incident.

The Sharks enjoyed a period of sustained pressure in which they took the ball through 14 phases and came within five metres of the line before conceding a free-kick. But this did not deter the visitors, who continued to keep it close to the forwards and rumble it up through the middle.

And the moment on which the result turned came in the 75th minute when the Sharks failed to control the ball and the Crusaders hacked it through. Some great follow-up work from replacement prop Wyatt Crockett saw him dive on the ball inside the Sharks' ingoal area. The call went to the TMO, who awarded the try. Brett's conversion was wide, but at 18-10 and with less than five minutes to go the Crusaders looked safe.

And so it proved, with the Sharks' desperation just resulting in more errors and the Crusaders holding on for the win and sending the Sharks away with nothing.

Man of the match: Under the circumstances you can always go for a player who made the least number of mistakes, with Sharks backs Stefan Terblanche and Odwa Ndungane looked safe in trying conditions. Both sets of forwards did well, but we felt the Crusaders as a collective unit deserves it for gutsing out the win - rather than an individual. Our award goes to the Crusaders team.

Moment of the match: Without doubt it goes to replacement prop Wyatt Crockett's try in the 75th minute - it was a match-winner.

Villain of the match: Nothing nasty, but Richie McCaw deserved his yellow card as he once again proved he is always going to push the boundaries of the laws until the match officials catch up to his wily ways.

The scorers:

For the Crusaders:
Tries: Somerville, Crockett
Con: Brett
Pens: Brett 2

For the Sharks:
Try: Kankowski
Con: Kockott
Pen: Kockott

Yellow card: Richie McCaw (Crusaders, 39 - repeated infringements, offside at ruck)

Teams:

Crusaders: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Kade Poki, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Andrew Ellis, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Richard McCaw (captain), 6 Kieran Read, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ross Filipo, 19 George Whitelock, 20 Kahn Fotuali'i,  21 Hamish Gard, 22 Caleb Ralph.

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9  Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 AJ Venter, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Albert van den Burg , 3 BJ Botha, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Jean Deysel, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Andries Strauss, 21 Henno Mentz, 22 Adrian Jacobs.

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges: Brett Bowden (Australia), Josh Noonan (New Zealand)
Television match official: Kane McBride (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Kim Eichmann (New Zealand)