The Waratahs' five match Super 12 winning streak has come to an end at the hands of the Crusaders, the New Zealanders scoring an 33-27 win at Aussie Stadium.

A dominant final half hour by the visitors saw NSW slip from a 20-12 lead to be out of the contest at 33-20.

A try on the buzzer to Lote Tuqiri, converted by Peter Hewat, earned the Waratahs a bonus point - something the Crusaders had already achieved by scoring four tries.

It was billed as the Waratahs' first major test of the year and it proved a tricky examination as the Crusaders forwards eventually won the day.

A try by winger Rico Gear after an Andrew Mehrtens kick through signalled the turnaround as the Crusaders quickly wrested control of the match from then on in.

Three consecutive penalty goals to Dan Carter - moved to the centres after Aaron Mauger was ruled out ill on match eve - gave the Crusaders a virtually unassailable lead before a try to five-eighth Mehrtens clinched the result.

While again strong in the lineout, the Waratahs sometimes struggled in loose play and were ultimately undone by a handful of crucial errors, the tireless Crusaders pack and the visitors' super counter attack.

At halftime the home side looked in a good position to win, up 13-12 thanks in full to Hewat.

The fullback, who had scored a length of the field intercept against the Bulls last week, only had to run 62 metres as he scooped up an errant Justin Marshall pass meant for Mehrtens.

Hewat scored under the posts in the 22nd minute after Gear had opened the tryscoring for the Crusaders.

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