Rugby: Prominent Chiefs set to wave goodbye against Brumbies

Chiefs first five Aaron Cruden gets a pass away against the Sunwolves. Photo / photosport.nz

Aaron Cruden will captain a quartet of Chiefs who could be bidding farewell to Hamilton in Saturday's clash with the Brumbies.

With Dave Rennie's men set to head on the road in the Super Rugby playoffs, only an unlikely sequence of results will see the Chiefs play at home again this season.

Which means Rennie and Cruden - along with Tawera Kerr-Barlow and James Lowe - may be running out on home turf for the final time, adding to the significance of a game that will also partly determine the Chiefs' playoff fate.

If they wish to earn a more favourable trip to Canberra for the quarter-finals, the Chiefs must beat the Brumbies on Saturday afternoon and hope the Crusaders defeat the Hurricanes in Wellington later in the evening.

If either of those results go wrong, the Chiefs will instead head to Cape Town and face the Stormers, an unenviable task given the travel required and the fact the South African side emerged triumphant from a meeting between the teams earlier this year.

Perhaps in recognition of the importance of victory, Rennie has named a strong side to face what is essentially a Brumbies B team, resting only a trio of All Blacks starters.

Michael Allardice will start on the openside flank in place of Sam Cane, Lachlan Boshier will take the No 7 jersey from Sam Cane and Alex Nankivell will replace Anton Lienert-Brown at centre.

But with Kerr-Barlow, Cruden and Lowe starting alongside the likes of Kane Hames, Nathan Harris, Liam Messam, Charlie Ngatai and Damian McKenzie, Saturday's team still features no shortage of players who wore either the All Black or New Zealand Maori jersey during the recent Lions tour.

Chiefs team to play the Brumbies in Hamilton on Saturday:

15. Damian McKenzie
14. Solomon Alaimalo
13. Alex Nankivell
12. Charlie Ngatai
11. James Lowe
10. Aaron Cruden
9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
8. Michael Leitch
7. Lachlan Boshier
6. Liam Messam
5. Mitchell Brown
4. Michael Allardice
3. Nepo Laulala
2. Nathan Harris
1. Kane Hames

Reserves: Liam Polwart, Aidan Ross, Atu Moli, Tom Sanders, Mitchell Karpik, Finlay Christie, Stephen Donald, Shaun Stevenson