Official team lists for this week's round of the National Provincial Championship, with a spot in the final on the line.
Wellington v Auckland
7pm Friday, October 14
Sky Stadium, Wellington
Auckland will be out to snap Wellington's eight-game win streak on Friday, and they'll have to do so without a trio of internationals, with Angus Ta'avao, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Akira Ioane all heading to Nelson for the All Blacks camp.
Blake Gibson slides into No. 6 to combine with Niko Jones on the flanks, while Bryce Heem returns from injury to pair with Harry Plummer in the midfield. Simon Hickey comes off the bench to start at first-five.
Auckland: 1-Alex Hodgman, 2-Soane Vikena, 3-Marcel Renata, 4-Hamish Dalzel, 5-Patrick Tuipulotu, 6-Blake Gibson, 7-Niko Jones, 8-Jackson Pugh, 9-Taufa Funaki, 10-Simon Hickey, 11-Tomas Aoake, 12-Harry Plummer (capt), 13-Bryce Heem, 14-AJ Lam, 15-Jordan Trainor
Reserves: 16-Leni Apisai, 17- Jordan Lay, 18-Sione Ahio, 19-Josh Beehre, 20-Terrell Peita, 21-Manu Paea, 22-Corey Evans, 23. Joel Cobb
For Wellington, former Wallabies prop Pekahou Cowan returns from injury to join Xavier Numia and Asafo Aumua upfront. With Cowan’s return, PJ Sheck drops back to the bench.
In the backs, Riley Higgins returns to the starting team in the midfield, slotting in for Peter Umaga-Jensen, after he was ruled out with an injury suffered during the quarter-final win against Hawke's Bay last weekend.
Wellington: 1-Xavier Numia, 2-Asafo Aumua, 3-Pekahou Cowan, 4-James Blackwell, 5-Dominic Bird, 6-Caleb Delany, 7-Du'Plessis Kirifi (c), 8-Peter Lakai, 9-TJ Perenara, 10-Jackson Garden-Bachop, 11-Pepesana Patafilo, 12-Riley Higgins, 13-Billy Proctor, 14-Julian Savea, 15-Ruben Love
Reserves: 16-Josh Southall, 17-PJ Sheck, 18-Tietie Tuimauga, 19-Taine Plumtree, 20-Keelan Whitman, 21-Richard Judd, 22-Aidan Morgan, 23-Connor Garden-Bachop
Canterbury v Bay of Plenty
7pm Saturday, October 15
Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch
Former All Blacks lock Luke Romano returns to the Canterbury pack for their semi-final against the Steamers, while former England international Willi Heinz starts at halfback, with Mitch Drummond sidelined by a mid-air tackle against Northland last week.
Canterbury: 1-Tamaiti Williams, 2-Brodie McAlister, 3-Oli Jager, 4-Luke Romano, 5-Zach Gallagher, 6-Dominic Gardiner, 7-Tom Christie, 8-Billy Harmon (C), 9-Willi Heinz, 10-Fergus Burke, 11-George Bridge, 12-Rameka Poihipi, 13-Dallas McLeod, 14-Manasa Mataele, 15-Chay Fihaki
Reserves: 16-George Bell, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Owen Franks, 19-Reed Prinsep, 20-Corey Kellow, 21-Joel Lam, 22-Isaiah Punivai, 23-Ngatungane Punavai
No.8 Zane Kapeli, first-five Wharenui Hawera and second-five Lalomilo Lalomilo will enter the Steamers starting XV, with injuries ruling out Nikora Broughton, Kaleb Trask and Inga Finau for the semi-final.
Bay of Plenty: 1-Aidan Ross, 2-Kurt Eklund (C), 3-Tevita Mafileo, 4-Justin Sangster, 5-Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 6-Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 7-Jacob Norris, 8-Zane Kapeli, 9-Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 10-Wharenui Hawera, 11-Nigel Ah Wong, 12-Lalomilo Lalomilo, 13-Joey Walton, 14-Leroy Carter, 15-Emoni Narawa
Reserves: 16-Anaru Rangi, 17-Haereiti Hetet, 18-Jeff Thwaites, 19- Etonia Waqa, 20-Veveni Lasaqa, 21-Lucas Cashmore, 22-Taylor Haugh, 23-Gillies Kaka
Join us for live updates of the Wellington v Auckland semi-final on Friday and Canterbiry v Bay of Plenty semi on Saturday
