VIDEO: Crusaders lose trio for the 'Canes battle
Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson's changes include two changes in the forwards and one in the backs.
In the front row, Tim Perry has been ruled out due to a hamstring strain suffered at the All Blacks camp on Tuesday and Wyatt Crockett will start at loosehead prop. On the opposite side of the scrum, Michael Alaalatoa steps into the starting team at tighthead prop, in place of Owen Franks.
The only change in the backline sees experienced centre Tim Bateman line up at inside-centre in place of Ryan Crotty, who is unavailable this week due to a concussion. Bateman will also be Vice-Captain of the side on Friday, alongside hooker Codie Taylor.
Matt Todd has again been named Captain this week, with Sam Whitelock also unavailable due to concussion symptoms.
There in the reserves, with Luke Romano returning from injury to provide cover at lock. Chris King and Donald Brighouse come into the matchday side as prop cover, and Braydon Ennor will wear the No. 23 jersey in place of the injured Manasa Mataele.
Meanwhile, there is some other good news, as Crusaders' speedster George Bridge has become the first player to ink a long-term deal with the franchise through to the 2022 season, and has also re-committed to Canterbury through to 2021.
It has been a meteoric rise for the 23-year-old, who was born in Gisborne but moved to Christchurch and progressed through the Crusaders and Canterbury development programmes.
In 2014, Bridge was named Canterbury Under 19 Player of the Year, and the following year he was a member of the New Zealand Under 20 squad that won the Junior World Championship in Italy. From there, he made the Canterbury Mitre 10 Cup team for the 2016 season and did enough during Canterbury’s Premiership-winning campaign that year to earn a spot in the Crusaders squad for 2017.
*Article continues below the video!
Crusaders: 15 David Havili, 14 Seta Tamanivalu, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Jordan Taufua, 7 Matt Todd (captain), 6 Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 5 Quinten Strange, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio ,17 Chris King,18 Dinald Brighouse,19 Luke Romano, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Braydon Ennor.
Date: Friday, May 25
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19.45 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand), James Doleman (New Zealand)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)
