Jamie Jospeh has made three changes (one positional) to his pack as the Highlanders prepare to take on the Sharks at Growthpoint Kings Park on Friday night.
Veteran Brad Thorn, the latest player to succumb to the dreaded bicep tear this season, will play no further part in the campaign and is replaced by Jarrad Hoeata in the number 4 jersey. Former Crusader Nasi Manu returns at number 8 this week, meaning a shift into the number 6 (blind side) jersey for impressive Elliot Dixon. Gareth Evans makes way and will play off the bench.
Joseph has retained his dangerous backline for this encounter, with flyhalf Lima Sopoaga and centre Malakai Fekitoa in particularly fine form, complementing the dangerous All Black pair of Aaron and Ben Smith.
Highlanders: 15. Ben Smith (co-captain), 14. Richard Buckman, 13. Malakai Fekitoa, 12. Shaun Treeby, 11. Patrick Osborne, 10. Lima Sopoaga, 9. Aaron Smith, 8. Nasi Manu (co-captain), 7. Shane Christie, 6. Elliot Dixon, 5. Joe Wheeler, 4. Jarrad Hoeata, 3. Chris King, 2. Liam Coltman, 1. Kane Hames
Substitutes: 16. Ged Robinson, 17. Craig Millar, 18. Ma’afu Fia, 19. Josh Bekhuis, 20. Gareth Evans, 21. Fumiaki Tanaka, 22. Trent Renata, 23. John Hardie
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Steyn and Swiel must really watch Sopoaga as he’s a handfull. Sharks must really win this game before the tour.
We should be dominant in the forwards, but it will be tough. Sharks by 17.
Yes, we need a big game, these guys have been dangerous.
We need to be more accurate with our positional kicking, otherwise if we feed this backline with aimless kicks, like last week, I think we will get punished for that.
Thats a good Highlanders side. They dont usually travel too well outside NZ but dont think for 1 min this game will be easy. The forward battle will be immense