He captained the 2006 Palmerston North Boys' High School 1st XV which included the likes of Hadleigh Parkes, Kurt Baker and Andre Taylor.

[5] On 20 February 2010, Cruden scored his first Super Rugby points, when he converted a try in the Hurricanes' 47–22 win over Western Force at the Westpac Stadium.

[12] On 13 July 2012, Cruden scored an intercept try against his former team, the Hurricanes, at the Cake Tin in Wellington, but that was not enough to prevent the Chiefs from losing the match 28-25.

[18] On 17 July 2010, Cruden made his Tri Nations debut for the All Blacks as a 73rd-minute substitute for Ma'a Nonu in a 31–17 victory over the Springboks at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

[19] On 2 October 2011, during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, it was announced Cruden had been called up as a replacement in the All Blacks squad for Dan Carter, after the New Zealand starting fly-half injured his groin during training.

On 9 October 2011, Cruden replaced Colin Slade in the first half of the All Blacks' 33-10 World Cup Quarter Final victory over Argentina, at Eden Park, and contributed a conversion to the score.

[21] Cruden started the match at First Five-Eighth against Australia on 16 October 2011, in the World Cup Semi Final at Eden Park, scoring a drop goal in the 20-6 victory for the All Blacks.

On 23 October 2011, Cruden started for the All Blacks in the World Cup Final at Eden Park, but left the field in the 34th minute with a knee injury, believed to be hyperextension.

[22] Cruden won his twelfth cap for the All Blacks in the final test against Ireland in Hamilton on 23 June 2012 replacing the injured Dan Carter in the starting line-up.