The Crusaders have avoided some unwanted history, brushing off the NSW Waratahs 35-20 in a winning start at One NZ Stadium to kick off Christchurch's Super Round.

A full house of 25,237 fans roared the hosts home on Friday night in the first of five Super Rugby Pacific games across three days at the indoor venue.

The defending champions had made what was intended to be a temporary Apollo Projects Stadium home a fortress since the city's deadly 2011 earthquake.

But they relished the flashy upgrade in the five-tries-to-two triumph that was not without some nervous moments.

Victory ensured the Crusaders avoided a clean sweep of losses to Australian sides for the first time in club history.

And it improved the defending champions to 5-5 and equal on points with the fourth-placed ACT Brumbies, who play the top-ranked Hurricanes on Saturday.

The Waratahs (4-5) remain in seventh, two points behind the Queensland Reds (5-3), who have a game in hand and play the Blues in Saturday's other fixture.

After an emotional Crusaders haka completed a hyped pre-match build-up, the Waratahs took some air out of the occasion with back-to-back Sid Harvey penalties to lead 6-0.

Winger Dallas McLeod, into the side after an ill Sevu Reece's late scratching, scored his first to get the hosts rolling.

Stout defence twice forced the Tahs sideways when they threatened to reply before an all-in scuffle led to a yellow card for Waratahs forward Miles Amatosero.

McLeod had a second try waved away when replays showed an obstruction.

The Waratahs held firm while a man down then struck back spectacularly with a full-field try that featured four kicks.

Twice Jack Gordon sent it high from the ruck to be regathered, before Jack Debreczeni went right, then left with cross-field chips that produced a Harvey try.

The Crusaders led at halftime though, Codie Taylor's converted rolling maul try making it 14-13 at the break.

Former Crusader Ioane Moananu was shown yellow minutes after entering the game and Leicester Fainga'anuku darted over to extend the lead.

The Crusaders then spun the ball right with a flat cross-field kick before back-rower Dom Gardiner ran and threw a terrific outside pass to set up McLeod's second.

David Havili was the next man yellow-carded, for a shoulder to a falling Max Jorgensen's forehead that forced the Waratahs fullback off.

The visitors kept coming, Teddy Wilson wriggling out of a tackle to score and make it an eight-point game with 15 minutes to play.

It only offered brief hope, Macca Springer straightening through a gap to shoot the hosts clear again.

Crusaders 35 (Tries: McLeod 2, Springer, Taylor, Fainga'anuku; Cons: Kemara 5) def NSW Waratahs 20 (Tries: Harvey, Wilson; Cons: Harvey 2; Pens: Harvey 2)

Teams

Crusaders: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Dallas McLeod, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 David Havili (captain), 11 Macca Springer, 10 Taha Kemara, 9 Noah Hotham, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 6 Dom Gardiner, 5 Tahlor Cahill, 4 Antonio Shalfoon, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Finlay Brewis
Replacements: 16 George Bell, 17 George Bower, 18 Seb Calder, 19 Jamie Hannah, 20 Johnny Lee, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Rivez Reihana, 23 Maloni Kunawave

Waratahs: 15 Max Jorgensen, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Joey Walton, 12 Lawson Creighton, 11 Sid Harvey. 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Charlie Gamble, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Miles Amatosero, 4 Matt Philip (captain), 3 Siosifa Amone, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Isaac Kailea
Replacements: 16 Ioane Moananu, 17 Tom Lambert, 18 Dan Botha, 19 Angus Blyth, 20 Clem Halaholo, 21 Jamie Adamson, 22 Teddy Wilson, 23 Triston Reilly

Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe, Damon Murphy
TMO: Brett Cronan