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Highlanders unchanged for Final

Highlanders head coach Jamie Joseph has kept faith in the side that convincingly beat the Waratahs in the semis for their final against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.   

 

Joseph has again opted for a six forward and two back split on the reserves bench, which will give give the Highlanders' forward pack plenty of firepower for the final.

 

Elliot Dixon will play his 50th Super Rugby game for the team, capping off a great season for the Southland flank who was also named in the Maori All Blacks team earlier this week.

 

The backs have a settled look to them with the only change being Marty Banks returning to the reserves bench in place of Trent Renata. 

 

This will be the Highlanders first final since they played the Crusaders in Dunedin in 1999 and the 2015 team has won 13 games so far, more than any other Highlanders team in history.

 

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (co-captain), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Richard Buckman, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu (co-captain), 7 James Lentjes, 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Mark Reddish, 4 Alex Ainley, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Brendon Edmonds.

Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Joe Wheeler, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Shane Christie, 22 Fumiaki Tanaka, 23 Marty Banks.

 

Date: Saturday, July 4

Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Craig Joubert (South Africa)

TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

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