Bird flies into Bombay's battle
The Blues will be searching for their first victory over the Chiefs since 2011.
The Bombay Hills are a range of hills at the southern boundary of the Auckland region and serve as a divide between Auckland and the Waikato region.
Dominic Bird will don the Chiefs jersey for the first time, having recovered fully from a foot fracture he sustained in late 2015 following his move north to join the two-time Super Rugby champions from the Crusaders.
The Chiefs are coming off the back of a 48-23 victory over the Brumbies and are going all out to secure their sixth consecutive win before they head into bye week, ahead of their first local derby home game.
The Australasian Conference leaders have been bolstered by the inclusion of All Blacks Brodie Retallick and Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who both return from injury. There are several other changes to the starting XV who defeated the Brumbies.
Atu Moli earns his first start at tighthead prop, Maama Vaipulu is promoted from the bench to start at blindside flank along with impressive wing Shaun Stevenson. In the reserves, flank Sam Henwood and wing Sam McNicol return to the 23, where they are joined by a powerful lineup of players ready to add impact off the bench.
Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Shaun Stevenson, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 James Lowe, 10 Aaron Cruden (co-captain), 9 Brad Weber, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane (co-captain), 6 Maama Vaipulu, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Dominic Bird, 3 Atu Moli, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Mitchell Graham.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Siate Tokolahi, 18 Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, 19 Taleni Seu, 20 Sam Henwood, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Seta Tamanivalu, 23 Sam McNicol.
Date: Friday, April 8
Venue: Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19.35 NZST (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)
TMO: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
