Their main home ground since 2012 is Rugby League Park (known for sponsorship reasons as Apollo Projects Stadium).

In 2008 the Crusaders hosted the final at AMI Stadium against the Waratahs, and won the match 20–12 to claim their seventh title.

While the Crusaders attempted to get MacDonald back on the field, the Blues scored two tries, including one by Brooke, who was later suspended for two weeks for the shoulder charge.

According to Crusaders' hooker Mark Hammett, "If we'd been polled in that week, and had to give an honest answer, most of the boys, deep down, would probably have thought that the Blues would beat us.

[18] At that moment, Andrew Mehrtens chipped the ball for James Kerr to run onto and score, giving the Crusaders a 20–13 win after the try was converted.

[18] We're a regional selection... and it's important to remember that, besides Canterbury, we also represent Nelson Bays, Marlborough, Buller, West Coast, Mid-Canterbury and South CanterburyThe 1999 season was equally successful for the Crusaders despite struggling to make the play-offs in fourth place after winning their last four round-robin matches.

[44] Although there was a 35–20 loss to the Bulls after Crusaders captain Richie McCaw was knocked unconscious, they eventually finished the regular season top of the table.

An unbeaten run of sixteen matches was nearly halted when the Crusaders drew with the Western Force in Perth in round eleven.

[52] After beating the Bulls in their semi-final, the Crusaders faced the Hurricanes in the final at Jade Stadium that was played in a thick fog, causing poor visibility.

The Crusaders players were Chris Jack, Richie McCaw, Greg Somerville, Reuben Thorne, Dan Carter, Leon MacDonald, and Aaron Mauger.

After finishing top of the table at the end of the last round,[62] they comfortably defeated the Hurricanes 33–22 in the semi-final,[63] and went on to beat the Waratahs in the final 20–12.

[68][69] The side found its feet later in the season, and won key away games which ultimately saw them finish in fourth place on the table – just ahead of the Waratahs.

In 2010 the Crusaders had a very good start to the season before a poor finish with three losses in four games caused them to have to travel to Orlando Stadium, Soweto to face the Bulls.

Round 9 they played the Chiefs in Mt Maunganui and gained four tries winning 34–16 with Richie McCaw returning after eight weeks off with injury.

The team went on to win their 8th Super Rugby title, defeating the Lions 25–17 in the final on 5 August 2017 at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.

Following that, they went into the Super Rugby Trans Tasman competition and beat the Brumbies (31–29), Reds (28–63), Waratahs (28–54), Force (29–21) and Rebels (26–52) but just came up short on points needed to be able to make the final.

In the aftermath of the 15 March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand which killed 51 people and injured 50 more, the Crusaders considered the idea changing the team name because the symbolism and imagery was considered to be "offensive to some in the community due to its association with the religious Crusades between Christians and Muslims" according to New Zealand Rugby Executive Steve Tew but ultimately though it was kept and remained unchanged for the 2020 season.

The Crusaders usually took one game each year to another part of the franchise area, most often when the New Zealand cricket team was playing at AMI Stadium.

The ground had a limited makeover, taking it to an 18,600 capacity stadium and bringing its facilities to the minimum standards required by the Super Rugby competition.

[84] In the first 30 hours of ticket sales, over 30,000 were purchased; a spokesman for United Ticketmaster indicated that the response was the strongest he had experienced for a rugby match outside of internationals.

The final round match between the Crusaders and Blues was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, with each team receiving 2 competition points.

[88][89][90] ^4 Super Rugby Aotearoa adopted the same format in 2021 as the inaugural tournament in 2020, with the addition of a final between the top two ranked teams at the conclusion of the round robin stage.

Twenty Four players have played over 100 games for the franchise: Wyatt Crockett, Samuel Whitelock, Kieran Read, Andy Ellis, Owen Franks, Ryan Crotty, Corey Flynn, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Matt Todd, Luke Romano, Mitchell Drummond, Codie Taylor, Rueben Thorne, Caleb Ralph, Leon MacDonald, David Havili, Joe Moody, Greg Somerville, Chris Jack, Scott Barrett, Richie Mo'unga, Justin Marshall, Jordan Taufua.

The Crusaders have also had three International Rugby Board Players of the Year: Dan Carter (2005), (2012), (2015), Richie McCaw (2006), (2009), (2010) and Kieran Read (2013).

[102] The Crusaders also boast three winners of the IRB International Player of the Year Award: Dan Carter (2005, 2012 and 2015), Kieran Read (2013) and Richie McCaw (2006, 2009 and 2010).

[103] On the eve of the last Super 12 final in 2005, a panel of experts picked the Crusaders team of the decade, which was published by the Christchurch Press.

The experts chosen to select the team were: Tane Norton (former All Blacks captain), Vance Stewart (first Crusaders coach), Dick Tayler (president of supporters club), Bob Schumacher (former Christchurch Press rugby writer) and Tony Smith (Christchurch Press rugby writer).

[104] Daniel Carter was omitted due to the strength of Andrew Mehrtens and Aaron Mauger who occupied the first and second five-eighth positions respectively, and because he was regarded as "the star of the next decade".

[104] The former All Black captain Reuben Thorne was omitted due to the quality of players in the lock and blindside flanker positions.

[104] Berryman was picked over Marika Vunibaka and Afato So'oalo due to his crucial tries late in the 1998 and 1999 seasons that helped the Crusaders qualify for the semi-finals.