Smith back to lead Highlanders

Highlanders head coach Tony Brown has named a strong matchday squad to take on the Crusaders in their Super Rugby quarter-final in Christchurch on Saturday.

Ben Smith and Aaron Smith return to the backline that features Richard Buckman on the left wing and the hard running Rob Thompson in the midfield. 

Brown has also elected to go with a six: two forward/back split on the reserves bench, perhaps anticipating an intense forward battle.

“It’s going to be an epic encounter, playing the NZ conference winners at home, obviously an extremely tough assignment against an experienced and well performed team, however our guys are very excited by the challenge they face” said Brown.

The team will once again be co-captained by Ben Smith and Ash Dixon.

The winner can look forward to playing a semi-final game against the Chiefs or Stormers while the losers will be spectators for the rest of the competition.

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (c), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Rob Thompson, 11 Richard Buckman, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 James Lentjes, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown 
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Siosuia Halanukonuka, 19 Alex Ainley, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Elliot Dixon, 22 Kayne Hammington, 23 Marty Banks

Date: Saturday, July 22
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe, Mike Fraser
TMO: Glenn Newman