The Hurricanes have made two changes to their starting XV for Friday's Super Rugby clash with the Highlanders in Dunedin.
Andre Taylor, who was the tournament's joint-top try-scorer last season, drops to the bench in favour of James Marshall.
Up front, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen has injured his sternum and has been bracketed amongst the replacements. Ben May takes over in the starting XV at tighthead.
Motu Matu'u has been bracketed, alongside Ash Dixon, to start at hooker, due to the shoulder injury Matu'u sustained against the Crusaders last weekend. The back-up hooker is yet to be confirmed for the bench as the team will wait to see how Matu'u gets through a contact training session on Wednesday.
Also to be confirmed is the number 17 jersey as Jeffery Toomaga-Allen will be re-assessed before the team heads south. Reggie Goodes is ready to step in.
The last change to the line-up is the inclusion of Tusi Pisi, who has joined the squad from Suntory in Japan and will be on the bench for this match.
The Hurricanes will face their third New Zealand based team in round four at the Forsyth Barr Stadium.
This will be the 20th time the teams have gone head to head. Since 2007, eight encounters, there has never been more than a converted try difference in the final score between the two.
Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben May, 2 2. Motu Matu'u / Ash Dixon, 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 tbc, 17 Reggie Goodes/Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Tusi Pisi, 22 Andre Taylor.
Date: Friday, March 15
Venue: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Kick-off: 19.35 (06.35 GMT)
Referee: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)
TMO: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Comments
tha_mai says...
Isograford - barrett hasn't forgotten how to tackle, he's always been weak - last year was 1= in Super rugby for missed tackles. But this year he's not in the top 20 (yet). Current #1 is Kurtley Beale, maybe as a result of looking after his crocked shoulder.
Barrett's goalkicking keeps him in the team right now.
Posted 08:59 13th March 2013
ABlack says...
Taylor has looked a bit out of sorts this year so far. Maybe several factors including Canes game plan is "give the ball to Julian..." and see what happens
Posted 01:53 13th March 2013
logophile says...
Probably needed to be done. I am looking forward to seeing Andre back in form. Looks like Mogg is the new form SuperRugby fullback at the moment.
Posted 23:35 12th March 2013
Isograford says...
Quite frankly Perenara and Barrett should be thankful they didn't get dropped too, especially the latter who seems to have forgotten how to tackle.
Posted 18:02 12th March 2013