Official NZ team lists and injury news for this week's round of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
Hurricanes v Reds
7:05pm Friday, June 11
Sky Stadium, Wellington
Midfielder Ngani Laumape will have a chance to bid farewell to the Hurricanes' faithful in their final game of the competition against the Reds.
Laumape will start in the No.12 jersey for his 84th and final game for the yellow and blacks, before heading to France to join Top 14 side Stade Francais on a three-year deal.
The 15-test All Black will pair with centre Billy Proctor against the Super Rugby AU champions.
Coach Jason Holland has made four changes to the run-on side, which had their final hopes snuffed out by a 12-10 loss to the Brumbies last weekend.
Recovered from a head knock, Asafo Aumua returns to start at hooker, shifting Dane Coles to the bench.
Cam Roigard gets the nod as starting halfback ahead of Luke Campbell, while wing Wes Goosen is recalled in place of Salesi Rayasi, who drops to the bench.
Reed Prinsep comes back to start at blindside flanker, moving Devan Flanders to the reserves.
"While we were bitterly disappointed to lose in Canberra, the boys have picked themselves up and are really determined to put on a good performance for a number of reasons," says Holland.
"The first of those is to reward our loyal fans with a performance they can be proud of, while we really want to send those players leaving off in a positive fashion."
Hurricanes: 1-Xavier Numia, 2-Asafo Aumua, 3-Tyrel Lomax, 4-James Blackwell, 5-Scott Scrafton, 6-Reed Prinsep, 7-Du'Plessis Kirifi, 8-Ardie Savea, 9-Cam Roigard, 10-Ruben Love, 11-Wes Goosen, 12-Ngani Laumape, 13-Billy Proctor, 14-Julian Savea,15-Jordie Barrett
Reserves: 16-Dane Coles, 17-Pouri Rakete-Stones, 18-Alex Fidow, 19-Liam Mitchell, 20-Devan Flanders, 21-Luke Campbell, 22-Peter Umaga-Jensen, 23-Salesi Rayasi
Brumbies v Highlanders
9:45pm Friday, June 11
GIO Stadium, Canberra
Linchpin halfback Aaron Smith will reclaim the No. 9 jersey for the Highlanders' crunch showdown with the Brumbies.
Smith returns from his All Blacks-mandated rest week, shifting Kayne Hammington back to the bench.
The rest of the line-up remains essentially the same as the one that demolished the Waratahs 59-23 in Dunedin, with flanker Hugh Renton's swap with James Lentjes the only other change to the gameday squad.
With the final looming, the southerners need a bonus-point win against a buoyant Brumbies side, who became just the second Australian team to record a win over NZ counterparts last week, edging the Hurricanes 12-10 at home.
Highlanders: 1-Ethan De Groot, 2-Ash Dixon, 3-Siate Tokolahi, 4-Pari Pari Parkinson, 5-Bryn Evans, 6-Hugh Renton, 7-Billy Harmon, 8-Kazuki Himeno, 9-Kayne Hammington, 10-Mitch Hunt, 11-Jona Nareki, 12-Scott Gregory, 13-Michael Collins, 14-Patelesio Tomkinson, 15-Josh Ioane
Reserves: 16-Liam Coltman, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Josh Hohneck, 19-Josh Dickson, 20-James Lentjes, 21-James Arscott, 22-Sam Gilbert, 23-Teariki Ben-Nicholas
Rebels v Crusaders
4:35pm Saturday, June 12
Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Codie Taylor has been given a rest for the Crusaders' final round-robin game of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, away to the Rebels on Saturday.
One of the Crusaders' best over the course of both Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, Taylor has been given what could be his side's last week in the competition to have a rest.
The Crusaders are currently third on the competition ladder heading into the final week, and could miss out on the final should both the Blues and Highlanders win with a bonus point.
Elsewhere, the Crusaders bring back All Blacks stars Richie Mo'unga, Sam Whitelock and Sevu Reece, all of whom sat out of the 29-21 victory over the Force in Christchurch last week.
George Bower returns to the front row, with Tamaiti Williams dropping to the bench, as Brodie McAlister starts at hooker in place of Taylor.
Scott Barrett and Whitelock combine in the second row, with the impressive Ethan Blackadder also returning to the side following two weeks out with concussion, and Whetukamokamo Douglas moving to No.8.
Mitchell Drummond takes the starting halfback spot from Bryn Hall, who moves to the bench, while Fergus Burke drops out of the 23 altogether to accommodate the returning Mo'unga.
On the bench, Mitchell Dunshea is preferred to Luke Romano, and Manasa Mataele takes the No.23 jersey from Josh McKay, having started in the win over the Force.
Crusaders: 1-George Bower, 2-Brodie McAlister, 3-Michael Alaalatoa, 4-Scott Barrett (c), 5-Sam Whitelock, 6-Ethan Blackadder, 7-Sione Havili, 8-Whetukamokamo Douglas, 9-Mitchell Drummond, 10-Richie Mo'unga, 11-Leicester Fainga'anuku, 12-David Havili, 13-Braydon Ennor, 14-Sevu Reece, 15-Will Jordan
Reserves: 16-Nathan Vella, 17-Tamati Williams, 18-Oliver Jager, 19-Mitchell Dunshea, 20-Tom Sanders, 21-Bryn Hall, 22-Dallas McLeod, 23-Manasa Mataele
Blues v Force
7:05pm Saturday, June 12
Eden Park, Auckland
The Blues have named a familiar side, as they look to cement their berth in next week's Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final.
Currently atop the table, a bonus point win over the Western Australians would clinch a home final at Eden Park next weekend.
The only changes come in the forward pack, where Alex Hodgman starts at loosehead prop, shifting fellow All Black Karl Tu'inukuafe to the bench.
At the other end of the front row, Nepo Laulala gets his sixth start of the season, with Ofa Tu'ungafasi still sidelined with niggling knee and hand issues.
Hoskins Sotutu returns to start at No. 8, with Akira Ioane moving back to the bench.
Also on the bench is Josh Goodhue, who's passed his fitness test to rejoin the gameday squad, as has hooker Ray Niuia.
Blues: 1-Alex Hodgman, 2-Kurt Eklund, 3-Nepo Laulala, 4-Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 5-Patrick Tuipulotu, 6-Tom Robinson, 7-Dalton Papalii, 8-Hoskins Sotutu, 9-Finlay Christie, 10-Otere Black, 11-Mark Telea, 12-TJ Faiane, 13-Rieko Ioane, 14-Bryce Heem, 15-Zarn Sullivan
Reserves: 16-Ray Niuia, 17-Karl Tu'inukuafe, 18-Marcel Renata, 19-Josh Goodhue, 20-Akira Ioane, 21-Jonathan Ruru, 22-Harry Plummer, 23-AJ Lam
Waratahs v Chiefs
9:45pm Saturday, June 12
Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Anton Lienert-Brown has been dropped to the bench for the Chiefs' final round-robin match of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
The influential midfielder scored twice in the 36-26 victory over the Rebels but makes way from the starting side for Alex Nankivell to start alongside Quinn Tupaea in midfield.
Brad Weber returns from his week off, starting at halfback and captaining the side, as Xavier Roe moves to the bench following an impressive showing against the Rebels.
Aidan Ross returns to the front row in place of Reuben O'Neill, as Bradley Slater starts at hooker ahead of Samisoni Taukei'aho.
Loose forward Zane Kapeli starts at lock alongside Tupo Vaa'i as the last change to the starting forward pack. He takes the place of Josh Lord in the matchday 23.
In the backs, Sean Wainui returns to the left wing in place of Bailyn Sullivan.
After starting on the bench against the Rebels, Mitchell Brown drops out of the side, with Viliami Taulani providing locking cover on the bench.
Chiefs: 1-Aidan Ross, 2-Bradley Slater, 3-Angus Ta'avao, 4-Zane Kapeli, 5-Tupou Vaa'i, 6-Pita Gus Sowakula, 7-Lachlan Boshier, 8-Luke Jacobson, 9-Brad Weber (c), 10-Bryn Gatland, 11-Sean Wainui, 12-Quinn Tupaea, 13-Alex Nankivell, 14-Shaun Stevenson, 15-Kaleb Trask.
Reserves: 16-Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17-Ollie Norris, 18-Reuben O'Neill, 19-Viliami Taulani, 20-Tom Florence, 21-Xavier Roe, 22-Anton Lienert-Brown, 23-Chase Tiatia
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