Chiefs head coach Colin Cooper has made several alterations to his starting line-up for Friday’s Super Rugby clash with the Hurricanes in Hamilton.
In the forwards, Sam Prattley gets his first start after effective performances off the replacements bench for most of the season.
Brodie Retallick comes back into the number four jersey after six weeks on the injured list, and Lachlan Boshier gets a start on the blindside flank after returning via the bench last week.
Rounding out the impactful loose trio are Mitch Karpik and Jesse Parete.
In the back-line, Marty McKenzie comes into the number ten jersey, with Cooper confident in his ability to drive the game.
“Marty will be the game driver at number ten, and we are confident that he can control the game really well,” he said.
McKenzie takes over from his younger brother Damian and will form a half-back partnership with Brad Weber. The only other change to the run-on side which faced the Brumbies last weekend sees Anton Lienert-Brown returning at outside centre in place of Sean Wainui.
Chiefs: 15 Solomon Alaimalo, 14 Toni Pulu, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Shaun Stevenson, 10 Marty McKenzie, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Jesse Parete, 7 Mitchell Karpik, 6 Lachlan Boshier, 5 Tyler Ardron, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 Liam Polwart, 1 Sam Prattley
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Jeff Thwaites, 19 Michael Allardice, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Tiaan Falcon, 23 Johnny Faauli
Date: Friday, July 13
Venue: FMG Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19:35 local (08:35 BST, 07:35 GMT)
Referee: Mike Fraser
Assistant Referees: Richard Kelly, James Doleman
TMO: Ben Skeen