May beefs up 'Canes pack

Ben May returns to the Hurricanes starting line-up for the match against the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Friday.

May comes in at tighthead and James Marshall will wear the No.15 jersey in place of Andre Taylor.

Motu Matu’u has been bracketed, alongside Ash Dixon, to start at hooker, due to the shoulder injury Matu’u sustained against the Crusaders in the weekend.

The back-up hooker is yet to be confirmed for the bench, as the team will wait to see how Matu’u gets through a contact training session on Wednesday.

Also to be confirmed is the No.17 jersey as Reggie Goodes and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen have been bracketed for the spot. Toomaga-Allen injured his sternum and will be re-assessed before the team heads south.

The last change to the line-up is the inclusion of Tusi Pisi, who has joined the squad from Suntory in Japan and will be on the bench for this match.  

This will be the 20th time the teams have gone head to head. Since 2007, their last eight encounters, there has never been more than a converted try difference in the final score between the two. 

Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Conrad Smith (captain), 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Karl Lowe, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ben Franks.

Replacements: 16 Motu Matu’u/Ash Dixon, 17 Reggie Goodes/Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 18 James Broadhurst, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Tusi Pisi, 22 Andre Taylor.

Date: Friday, March 15

Venue: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

Kick-off: 19.35 (06.35 GMT)

Referee: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)

Assistant referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Kane McBride (New Zealand)

TMO: Vinny Munro (New Zealand)