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Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd admitted there were some tough decisions made before he finalised his side to face the Lions at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night.
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Boyd has made four changes to the starting side which beat the Sunwolves 43-15 in the last round 11.
The return of Ngani Laumape after a week’s rest has seen the in-form Vince Aso move out of the 23-man squad, a decision Boyd found difficult given just how well the versatile back was playing in 2018.
However, Boyd stressed that Aso would be right back in the mix as the Hurricanes negotiate a difficult few weeks before the international playing window.
Aso finished last weekend’s game with 103 run metres, two tries, two try assists and had two more tries disallowed upon further review.
Laumape’s return is the only change in the backline, while there are three up front.
Prop Jeff Toomaga-Allen swaps places for Ben May, while in the back row Gareth Evans comes in for Reed Prinsep and Vaea Fifita returns to the second row after a week off.
The only other alteration to the match-day 23 comes in the reserves with Ihaia West coming in for Jackson Garden-Bachop.
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Nehe Milner-Skudder, who made a welcome return to rugby in the last quarter of the Sunwolves match, will again come off the bench.
Saturday’s match, a repeat of the 2016 Super Rugby final, as well as last year’s semifinal, will be significant for centre Matt Proctor who will make his 50th appearance for the Hurricanes.
HURRICANES
15. Jordie Barrett, 14. Julian Savea, 13. Matt Proctor, 12. Ngani Laumape, 11. Ben Lam, 10. Beauden Barrett, 9. Finlay Christie, 8. Gareth Evans, 7. Ardie Savea, 6. Brad Shields (C), 5. Michael Fatialofa, 4. Vaea Fifita, 3. Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2. Ricky Riccitelli, 1. Toby Smith.
Reserves: 16. James O’Reilly, 17. Chris Eves, 18. Ben May, 19. Sam Lousi, 20. Reed Prinsep, 21. Jamie Booth, 22. Ihaia West, 23. Nehe Milner-Skudder.
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