This weekend sees the Crusaders take on the 2012 Investec Super Rugby champions the Chiefs. Crusaders Head Coach Todd Blackadder has named his team making five changes to the starting fifteen that beat the Highlanders last weekend.

The forward pack sees Wyatt Crockett, Corey Flynn and Owen Franks return to the front row. Crockett and Flynn both started on the bench last weekend and Franks returns from an elbow infection which saw him hospitalised for two days.

Luke Romano joins Sam Whitelock in the middle row and Kieran Read claims the number eight jersey moving Luke Whitelock and Tom Donnelly to the bench.

The last time the two sides met was in round fifteen of the competition when the Crusaders came away with a 28-19 loss. While the Chiefs have won the last three times these two sides have met, they have not played in Crusader country since 2009. The Crusaders will be looking to remind their Waikato counterparts what it’s like to play in front of a Crusader home crowd and to secure their place in the play offs.

The Crusaders are currently sitting fifth on the table and have two round robin matches left to play. Both games are derby matches against their New Zealand counterparts at AMI Stadium. The Chiefs on 5th July followed by the Hurricanes on 12th July. Both Friday night games kick-off is at 7.35pm. local time

Crusaders team to play the Chiefs: