Bruising blindside flanker TK Howden earns his first start for the Highlanders after coming off the bench against Moana Pasifika.
He will eye a bunch of men he knows well after spending three years with the Hurricanes, choosing to move on after being limited to 16 appearances — most off the bench — over three years.
"It is a bit different. But I’m actually really excited to sort of showcase my talent and sort of prove them wrong, really.
"They’ve always had really good loosies. The heart of their team is their loose forwards. It will be cool to come up against them."
The Hurricanes are bottom of the table but Howden said the Highlanders were only really thinking about themselves as they sought a third straight win.
He has also revealed his move to the Highlanders came, unusually, after he took the initiative to approach coach Jamie Joseph.
"I went to Jamie and said I was keen to come down if he would take me. He wanted me, and the rest is history.
"He didn’t really know much about me but I think he liked that I gave him a ring."
Howden also had a rather out-of-the-ordinary experience during the Highlanders’ bye week.
He jumped out of a plane.
"Me and my mum and partner went skydiving in Queenstown. That was a pretty cool experience.
"It’s sort of been on my mum’s bucket list, so I told her I would do it with her.
"The first four seconds, you jump and you are like, holy crap, but then you just enjoy it."
