Messam to start in 150th appearance

Veteran Chiefs loose forward Liam Messam will start in his 150th game for the Super Rugby side when they host the Bulls on Saturday.

An experienced line-up will take the field with Messam in his milestone game this Saturday. In the forwards, Siegfried Fisi’ihoi will start for the first time this season, packing down alongside Hika Elliot and Nepo Laulala. 

Dominic Bird and Brodie Retallick partner in the second row for the fifth consecutive game. Liam Messam moves from number eight to start at blindside flanker, with co-captain Sam Cane and Michael Leitch completing the formidable loose forward trio in the seven and eight jerseys respectively.

In the backs, Tawera Kerr-Barlow will don the nine jersey again this week, with Aaron Cruden returning to the starting fifteen to start at fly-half.

Johnny Faauli is promoted from the bench to partner Anton Lienert-Brown in the midfield. James Lowe is back on the left wing this week, with Shaun Stevenson and Damian McKenzie completing the backline.

It’s an exciting night for 28-year-old Southland hooker Brayden Mitchell who could make his Chiefs debut off the bench.

Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Shaun Stevenson, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Johnny Faauli, 11 James Lowe, 10 Aaron Cruden (cc), 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane (cc), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Siegfried Fisi'ihoi
Replacements: 16 Brayden Mitchell, 17 Kane Hames, 18 Atu Moli, 19 Taleni Seu, 20 Mitchell Karpik, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Stephen Donald, 23 Solomon Alaimalo

Date: Saturday, April 1
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19:35 local (06:35 GMT)
Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand), Cam Stone (New Zealand)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)