All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick will make his 100th Super Rugby appearance, when he captains the Chiefs against the Brumbies on Saturday night.
Retallick didn't finish his team's season-opening loss last week, after he was smashed in a tackle that resulted in Highlanders centre Sio Tomkinson being sent off for a no-arms, head-high tackle.
A Sanzaar judiciary has cleared Tomkinson of any wrong-doing and Retallick has obviously recovered enough to take his starting position in Canberra this week.
"As a team, we want this to be a memorable occasion for Brodie," says coach Colin Cooper. "We want to pull together a performance befitting this milestone on the field, come Saturday night."
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Cooper has made several changes to the side that fell 30-27 in a late Highlanders comeback. Crucially, international utility Damian McKenzie will fill the number 10 jersey previously occupied by makeshift first-five Orbyn Leger.
All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala is promoted to the starting line-up, replacing fellow international Angus Ta'avao, who is rested for the fixture.
"We have a young team and last week they learnt a lot," says Cooper. "This weekend, we need them to take on board those learnings and, as a team, deliver on them."
Chiefs: 1-Aidan Ross, 2-Nathan Harris, 3-Nepo Laulala, 4-Brodie Retallick, 5-Michael Allardice, 6-Mitchell Brown, 7-Lachlan Boshier, 8-Tyler Ardron, 9-Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 10-Damian McKenzie, 11-Etene Nanai-Seturo, 12-Anton Lienert-Brown, 13- Tumua Manu, 14- Ataata Moeakiola, 15-Shaun Stevenson
Reserves: 16- Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17-Tevita Mafileo, 18-Sosefo Kautai, 19-Taleni Seu, 20-Mitchell Karpik, 21-Jonathan Taumateine, 22-Orbyn Leger, 23-Bailyn Sullivan
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Join us at 9:30pm Saturday for live updates of the Chiefs vs Brumbies Super Rugby clash in Canberra.
