The struggling Hurricanes will receive a significant boost for their showdown with the Chiefs on Sunday, with news that linchpin Jordie Barrett has been cleared to retake the field.
The All Blacks fullback has recovered from his shoulder injury and will don the No.15 jersey at FMG Stadium, as the two winless sides chase their first Super Rugby Aotearoa victory.
Barrett is a part of a rejigged backline, with Kobus Van Wyk claiming the right-wing spot and Peter Umaga-Jensen the centre position in place of Vince Aso, who has a shoulder injury.
Wes Goosen goes to the bench to make way for Van Wyk.
Up front, Scott Scrafton will move in to start at lock, as Vaea Fifita shifts to the bench in the only change to the run-on pack.
Gareth Evans took a knock at training which will keep him out of action, but the injury is considered minor.
After a few weeks on the sidelines watching his side fall to defeat, Barrett is raring to go against the Hurricanes' northern neighbours this weekend.
"It's exciting," says Barrett. "It's a different feeling preparing for a game at the end of the week."
The nature of his injury has only added to the pain of being forced to watch from the outer.
"I trained all COVID-19 and then came back and hurt my shoulder tackling a tackle bag," he recalls. "That was very frustrating."
"We haven't been too far away. It has been tough watching but I feel like our group is in a pretty good spot at the moment and we're not far off."
Hurricanes assistant coach Chris Gibbes says Barrett has looked great through the past week's training and his return is a welcome one.
"We're just really happy that he's back in the group and ready to contribute," Gibbes adds.
Join us for live updates of Chiefs v Hurricanes from 3:30pm Sunday
