Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd has made two alterations to his starting line-up for their clash with the Sharks in Napier on Friday.
Both changes come in the forwards with Michael Fatialofa coming into the second-row where he replaces Vaea Fifita while Jeffery Toomaga-Allen takes over from Ben May at tighthead prop.
Fatialofa and Toomaga-Allen both came off the bench in the Hurricanes’ 50-19 win over the Rebels in Melbourne last week and May and Fifita will simply make a swap for them, giving the Hurricanes the same matchday 23 as the last round.
Openside flanker Sam Henwood, who impressed in his Hurricanes debut against the Rebels, will line up for a second match running as Ardie Savea continues to recover from a rib injury.
Matt Proctor also continues to make good progress from a similar injury Savea suffered against the Highlanders.
Hurricanes: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Vince Aso, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Sam Henwood, 6 Brad Shields (c), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Michael Fatialofa, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Chris Eves
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Fraser Armstrong, 18 Ben May, 19 Vaea Fifita, 20 Reed Prinsep, 21 Jamie Booth, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Wes Goosen
Date: Friday, April 6
Venue: McLean Park, Napier
Kick-off: 19:35 local (06:35 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
Television match official: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)
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