The Hurricanes welcome back Tyrel Lomax for their semifinal against the Chiefs on Saturday afternoon at Sky Stadium.
The 32-test All Blacks will start in the front row alongside hooker Asafo Aumua and loosehead prop Pouri Rakete-Stones, who replaces Xavier Numia who was injured in last weekend’s win over the Melbourne Rebels. Captain Brad Shields also returns to the starting lineup after coming off the bench last weekend.
That sees Pasilio Tosi and Devan Flanders move back to the bench, while coach Clark Laidlaw has opted for a 6-2 bench split, which sees Kini Naholo miss out and James Tucker join the reserves.
With the side getting through their quarter-final against the Reds last weekend unscathed and putting their best performance of the season on the park, coach Clayton McMillan has opted to stick with that formula in the hope of upsetting the top-seeded Hurricanes.