It's the battle of the Bombay's this Friday when the Blues invade FMG Stadium Waikato in search of their first win over the Gallagher Chiefs since 2011, and a new line up has been announced.
Buoyed by a thrilling 48-23 victory over the Brumbies, the Gallagher Chiefs have been working
hard this week to prepare for their first local derby home game and earn their sixth consecutive win before they head into bye week.
The Investec Super Rugby Australasian Conference leaders have been bolstered by the inclusion of All Blacks Brodie Retallick and Tawera Kerr-Barlow who both return from injury. Imposing 2.06m lock Dominic Bird will don the Gallagher Chiefs jersey for the first time, having recovered fully from a foot fracture he sustained in late 2015 following his move north to join the two-time Super Rugby champions from the Crusaders.
There are several other changes to the starting fifteen who defeated the Brumbies last Saturday in Canberra. Atu Moli earns his first start at tighthead prop, Maama Vaipulu is promoted from the bench to start at blindside flanker along with impressive outside back Shaun Stevenson. In the reserves, flanker Sam Henwood and winger Sam McNicol return to the 23 where they are joined by a powerful lineup of players ready to add impact off the bench.
The Gallagher Chiefs team to play the Blues is:
1. Mitchell Graham (17)
2. Hika Elliot (92)
3. Atu Moli (3)
4. Dominic Bird*
5. Brodie Retallick (61)
6. Maama Vaipulu (16)
7. Sam Cane (71) co-captain
8. Michael Leitch (18)
9. Brad Weber (30)
10. Aaron Cruden (62) co-captain
11. James Lowe (27)
12. Charlie Ngatai (37)
13. Anton Lienert-Brown (14)
14. Shaun Stevenson (2)
15. Damian McKenzie (22)
RESERVES:
16. Rhys Marshall (28)
17. Siate Tokolahi (23)
18. Siegfried Fisi'ihoi (2)
19. Taleni Seu (6)
20. Sam Henwood (1)
21. Tawera Kerr-Barlow (60)
22. Seta Tamanivalu (12)
23. Sam McNicol (3)
( ) = Gallagher Chiefs caps in brackets
*denotes Gallagher Chiefs debut
Not considered for selection: Nepo Laulala, Mitchell Karpik, Andrew Horrell, Augustine Pulu, Tom Sanders, Toni Pulu, Johan Bardoul and Pauliasi Manu.
Tickets to Friday's 7:35pm local derby thriller between the Gallagher Chiefs and the Blues are available from Stirling Sports, ticketdirect.co.nz, 0800 4 CHIEFS or from Gate 1 at FMG Stadium Waikato from 9am on Friday. The action starts early with the University of Waikato Chiefs Development team taking on the Blues Development team in the curtain raiser at 5pm.
