All Blacks star forward Richie McCaw says he's happy to have made it through his first run-on appearance of the Super Rugby season, despite spending a portion of it in the sin bin.
McCaw received a yellow card for slowing the play down 49 minutes into the Crusaders' vital 42-30 bonus-point win over the Western Force in Perth, but completed the match after his 10 minutes on the sidelines.
The Crusaders captain had played only 29 minutes for his side this season before the Force game due to a foot injury and said it felt good to spend a prolonged period on the field.
"I actually felt remarkably good lungs-wise and running around the track. Perhaps the timing was a bit off, but you have to feel your way back in with that," he said.
"I just enjoyed getting out there really ... it feels great to get underway. I was pretty happy with where I was at and I'll be better for it next week."
"(His injured foot) seems to be fine. It got jumped on at one point so there's the usual bruises, but it feels pretty good and wasn't an issue at all."
But the loose forward admitted he should have known better than to get sent off in a key situation.
"I knew it was pretty critical to keep our discipline, I was barking that at the boys and then I was the one who gave away the penalty and ended up in the bin," he said.
"You could put that down to a bit of rust, but I'm still a bit disappointed with myself."
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said he was happy with the way they bounced back from last week's loss to the Highlanders.
"We started off really well and controlled the game with our good structure," he said.
"We kept our heads at the vital time and made some good decisions, which won us the game."
The result saw the Crusaders establish an eight-point gap over the seventh-placed Waratahs, with both sides having played 10 games.
But victory was soured by an apparent back injury to starting prop Ben Franks, which has him in doubt for their two-game tour of South Africa.
"We're just holding our breath on him at the moment, but it's not looking good," Blackadder said.
Blackadder said star playmaker Daniel Carter was a chance to return for next Saturday's clash against the Stormers, while Kieran Read would be available.
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