Sonny Bill Williams of the Crusaders meets fans during their Super Rugby semifinal against the Stormers.

Sean Maitland of the Crusaders in action against the Stormers.

Dan Carter of the Crusaders in action against the Stormers.

Richie McCaw of the Crusaders charges down a kick from Peter Grant of the Stormers.

Andries Bekker of the Stormers is tackled during their semifinal match against the Crusaders.

Kieran Read of the Crusaders passes the ball to Robbie Fruean against the Stormers.

Robbie Fruean of the Crusaders charges up field against the Stormers.

The Crusaders breathtaking Super adventure will continue in next weekend's final after they beat the Stormers 29-10 in their semifinal at Newlands this morning.

Built around tenacious defence, a dynamite scrum, aggressive contesting of the rucks and the accurate goal kicking of the ice-cool Dan Carter, the Crusaders will face the Queensland Reds in the final at Suncorp Stadium after the Aussies had dealt to the Blues in their semi just hour earlier.

Now the Crusaders must cross the Indian Ocean for the second time in a week as they fly to Brisbane to attempt to cap off a remarkable season that has been disrupted by the Christchurch earthquakes.

Jet lag, travel fatigue and playing in a hostile stadium stacked with 48,000 fans were tipped by some critics as being too big a hurdle for the Crusaders to leap, yet it was the Stormers who played the opening 40 minutes as if they were the team in foreign surrounds.

Their tactic of hoisting high kicks gained them an early penalty to Peter Grant when rookie fullback Tom Marshall was put under intense heat in his red zone but the Crusaders swung back to add 16 points.

But the Stormers' fumbles, crumbling scrum and penchant for giving away penalties killed them.

Crusaders flyer Sean Maitland raced away half the length of the field to grab the opening try, having intercepted No 8 Nick Koster's pass in the 15th minute and poignantly celebrated by plucking at the Crusaders emblem on his jersey as he dashed into the in-goal area.

Carter's conversion, his second successful kick of the evening after earlier knocking over a penalty, stretched the lead to 10-3 and minutes later he nailed another couple of three-pointers to give the visitors a 13-point buffer.

The carnage could have been worse for the Stormers had Crusaders centre Robbie Fruean, who was gifted a peach of a pass by No 8 Kieran Read, not flung a pass into the grateful grasp of his opposite Jaque Fourie instead of fullback Tom Marshall who loomed on his left and was just metres from the line.

But Fruean compensated for his clanger soon after when he latched on to a magic Sonny Bill Williams offload that sucked in two tacklers and ran 22m to score his side's second try.

Moments before he plonked the ball down, Fruean raised a one-fingered salute to the heavens and Carter's conversion should have ensured the Crusaders marched into the changing sheds at halftime with an intimidating 20-point lead.

A try to quick-thinking Stormers left wing Bryan Habana, however, chopped that deficit back to 13 points soon after the re-start.

Having won a penalty when they were hot on attack, Stormers captain Schalk Burger barely had time to assess his options before looking up to see Habana take a quick tap and dart under the despairing tackles of Corey Flynn and Read.

The conversion from Peter Grant reduced the score to 23-13 and when the Stormers, who until that point had struggled to gain any momentum due to the penalties dished out against them by referee Craig Joubert and the Crusaders' venomous defence, were back in the hunt.

Despite dominating possession - they hogged two-thirds of the ball - the Stormers were thwarted by some heavy tackling by the Crusaders, with Read and replacement halfback Kahn Fotuali'i pulling out some teeth-jarring hits.

Fotuali'i, who will leave the Crusaders soon to play in Wales, replaced Andy Ellis in the 15th minute after the All Black limped off and sat on the sideline with an ice pack on his right knee.

Immediately after the re-start Carter's lethal left boot was swinging back into action, the first five-eighth slotting another penalty for his sixth successive kick from seven attempts.

That shot followed another powerful Crusaders scrum which had Stormers loosehead prop Wicus Blaauw being punished by Joubert.

Earlier there had been a minor scuffle in a ruck when Schalk Brits, who replaced the injured captain and flanker Burger and was controversially imported from England for this match, wrestled with George Whitelock.

One of the highlights of the second half was the cracking cover tackle by Zac Guildford, the left wing flying across to the opposite flank to collide with Fourie near the corner flag and knock the ball from his grasp and prevent a try.

As the rain tumbled down with 10 minutes remaining, the crowd stacked in the uncovered stands had seen enough.

They tossed away their placards, left their seats and walked out.

Game, set and match to the Crusaders.