Smith joins 100 club

 

Loose forward, and Highlanders stalwart, John Hardie will also achieve a milestone on Saturday playing his 50th Super Rugby game for the Highlanders.

 

There are only a couple of changes to the starting line-up that scored four tries in 25 minutes against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last weekend. 

 

Both Waisake Naholo and Shaun Treeby return from injury to the starting team with Naholo back on the wing and Treeby coming into inside centre position. 

 

Utility back, Richard Buckman, moves to cover on the bench and the forward/back split returns to the standard five-three. Elliot Dixon is unavailable  for selection this week returning back to New Zealand for the birth of his first child.

 

This will be the third game on the road for the Highlanders as they look to firm up their position heading into the final rounds of the 2015 Super Rugby competition. 

 

After playing the Force the team then heads home to play the Chiefs in Invercargill on Saturday May 30, in what is shaping up as an exciting encounter with the teams currently on even points.   

 

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Nasi Manu (captain), 7 John Hardie, 6 Gareth Evans, 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 Tom Franklin, 20 Dan Pryor, 21 Fumiaki Tanaka, 22 Richard Buckman, 23 Marty Banks.

  

Date: Saturday, May 23

Venue: nib Stadium, Perth

Kick-off: 19.45 (23.45 NZST; 11.45 GMT)

Referee: Andrew Lees

Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann, Graham Cooper

TMO:  Ian Smith