The Chiefs have made a surprise call to bench All Blacks bolter Samipeni Finau for Saturday's Super Rugby Pacific final against the Crusaders at Hamilton's FMG Stadium.
Finau was one of five uncapped players included in coach Ian Foster's Rugby Championship squad last weekend, but finds himself among the reserves.
Out to end a 10-year championship drought against the competition's perennial winners, Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan has instead opted for experience and sentiment.
Two-test All Black Pita Gus Sowakula has been rewarded for his performances from the substitutes with a farewell start.
The veteran loose forward will join French club Clermont in the Top 14 next season on a two-year deal, ending a five-year stint at the Super Rugby side, where his contributions to a dominant back-row saw him earn his first New Zealand test cap in 2022.
Despite being leapfrogged by Chiefs teammate Finau in the All Blacks squad, Sowakula has been given the nod to start in the No.6 jersey in the final.
"Obviously, it's been a big week for Samipeni," said McMillan. "It's an opportunity off the bench to bring that energy, which will be good.
"Also, Pita Gus has played well, he's got experience and it's his last game in the Chiefs jersey, and we often talk about how much we care about people. One way of showing that is giving a person like that, who has been a great servant for the Chiefs, an opportunity to run him out as a starter."
With Sowakula just one of several players that will run out for the final time for the Chiefs, there is no shortage of motivation to come out on top. Chiefs captain Sam Cane will also bring up his 150th game for the team, but McMillan insists the occasion of the final remains at the forefront of the discussions.
"We had an open, honest conversation about how they want that to unfold themselves over the weekend," he said. "As you can imagine, they all sort of came back and said, 'We don't want it to be about us, we want it to be about the team'.
"To be fair, very little has been said about the departing players. Sam's milestone of playing 150 games, that stuff has all taken a backseat to the great team opportunity that's in front of us."
While the wait to bring a Super Rugby title back to Hamilton has been long, the venue has tasted success before in 2012 and 2013.
McMillan is keen to capitalise on that advantage once again and hopes the hometown fans can make life as miserable as possible for the travelling Crusaders.
"I think it's massive, it's huge," he said. "It's not a pleasant experience going down to Christchurch in the middle of winter, being on the end of their parochialism, but I've also experienced what it's like here when the cowbells are ringing and 25,000 people are vocal getting behind the team.
"We're going to need them in their colours, loud and proud, and making sure the opposition understands that they're a long way away from home and it's our backyard.
"The cowbells won't be the difference, but they will certainly make a difference."
Join Newshub at 7pm Saturday for live updates of the Chiefs v Crusaders Super Rugby Pacific final
