Palmer back for Brumbies' crusade
Dan Palmer is the only change to the Brumbies starting side which will take on the Crusaders at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
Palmer takes back his signature No.3 jersey at tighthead prop, moving Ben Alexander to loosehead and Scott Sio to the bench.
Ruaidhri Murphy drops out of the matchday 22.
The match holds special significance for George Smith, as he will break George Gregan's record as the most capped Brumby when he moves onto 137 appearances.
Head coach Jake White said he was pleased to keep consistency in his selections coming into the back end of the season.
"I've said before that by this point in the season we would like to be keeping more consistency in our selections and I suppose that is clearly reflected in the team we've picked," White said.
"Dan Palmer has been terrific in the scrum for us this year and we will be looking for a big performance from him.
"Brumbies versus Crusaders has traditionally been one of the biggest games on the ACT sporting calendar, but the way scheduling would have it the fixture hasn't been played in Canberra for a number of years.
"The Brumbies have a good record against the Crusaders in Canberra, they haven't won here since 2003. Away from home they're very strong but we tend to rise to the occasion when the Crusaders come to town."
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (captain), 7 George Smith, 6 Fotu Auelua, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Peter Kimlin, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Leon Power, 19 Colby Faingaa, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Robbie Coleman, 22 Pat McCabe.
Date: Sunday, May 5
Venue: Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Kick-off: 16.05 (18.05 NZ time; 06.05 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Australia)
