The Chiefs have suffered a serious blow ahead of tomorrow's clash with the Hurricanes in Wellington, with both Sonny Bill Williams and James Lowe ruled out through injury.
The withdrawals will not only rob fans who have eagerly awaited the meeting between Super Rugby's top two sides but also deny the All Blacks selectors a chance to check out a couple of key individual battles.
And, in combination with the inclement weather hitting the capital, the Chiefs losing an outstanding attacking duo may completely change the complexion of the match.
Williams was a late scratch for the third time this season, named on Thursday in the run-on XV but suffering a back strain that is expected to keep him out of action for only a week.
He will be replaced at second-five by Anton Lienert-Brown and, with all due respect to the New Zealand Under-20s utility, Ma'a Nonu has gone from facing a serious rival for his All Blacks jersey to a man with only 79 minutes to his name this season.
Lowe, meanwhile, has succumbed to a shoulder ailment that has plagued the wing throughout the last fortnight, seeing Bryce Heem promoted from the bench and Marty McKenzie brought into the matchday 23.
It's an especially cruel blow for Lowe, who was looking forward to testing himself against a pair of players he called "the two best wingers in the world". And Steven Hansen would have been a keen observer of Lowe's performance against Julian Savea and Cory Jane, given the 22-year-old has played his way into the All Blacks frame during a breakout campaign.
Instead, an under-powered Chiefs may wisely decide against meeting fire with fire, opting to avoid the strengths of a team ranked second in the competition for points and tries scored. That could see the visitors keep it tight, play a territory game and attempt to strangle the life of their opposition, a fate made more likely by the forecast.
Wellington has been drenched all week and the skies show no sign of drying up ahead of kickoff tomorrow, with rain forecast from 6pm onwards. Speaking earlier in the week when poor weather looked inevitable, Chiefs coach Dave Rennie acknowledged a change in approach could be required for his side, and that was before he was forced to revamp his backline.
"I think both sides will probably kick a little bit more than they would have," he said. "We've just got to play it the way it is. If it's a little wetter then maybe we'll be a bit more direct and tighter."
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Revised Chiefs team to play Hurricanes at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night:
Tom Marshall, Hosea Gear, Charlie Ngatai, Anton Lienert-Brown, Bryce Heem, Damian McKenzie, Brad Weber, Michael Leitch, Sam Cane, Liam Messam (c), Michael Fitzgerald, Michael Allardice, Ben Tameifuna, Hika Elliot, Pauliasi Manu.
Reserves: Quentin MacDonald, Siate Tokolahi, Mitchell Graham, Liam Squire, Maama Vaipulu, Augustine Pulu, Andrew Horrell, Marty McKenzie.
NZME.
