Lock Isaac Ross is expecting another fired-up performance from the Highlanders when he makes his Super rugby debut for the Chiefs in Dunedin on Friday night.
While the Highlanders' 14-9 win over the Hurricanes in Wellington last Friday wasn't pretty, the southerners, under new coach Jamie Joseph, produced plenty of grit, which didn't surprise Ross.
It was what Joseph himself displayed during his own playing days.
"That's the mentality he had to his game," Ross said today.
"There's no hiding what they are going to do. They will come out all guns blazing."
Ross, who missed the Chiefs' 28-20 defeat to the Brumbies last weekend with a chest muscle injury, is one of eight changes to the starting 15.
The former Crusader, who played eight tests for the All Blacks in 2009, will form a new locking partnership with ex-Highlander Hayden Triggs.
The pair replace Craig Clarke, who is recovering from a head injury, and Romana Graham, who suffered bad cramping and is being rested.
A key task for Ross and Triggs will be to try to improve the Chiefs' lineout, after they lost a number of their own throws against the Brumbies.
"It was only little things, a little bit of execution, that was the problem," Ross said.
"Hopefully we have sorted that and will get back on track."
A Cantabrian, Ross admitted that the devastating earthquake that hit Christchurch yesterday had made it hard at times to concentrate on rugby.
His wife and two boys were fine, and while the family's house on the city's outskirts had received damage, it wasn't as great as compared to buildings elsewhere.
"It is hard -- even though we're in Hamilton, you can't sweep it under the carpet, it's on every radio station and every TV channel," he said.
"You have to accept that it's happened, and we still have a job to do. We still have to go out there and put on a performance, and also to give people a little bit of hope that things are still trucking along."
Apart from Clarke, No 8 Fritz Lee, with a knee problem, was also ruled out because of injury.
Coach Ian Foster said the other changes took into account the six-day turn-around and the travel involved.
Among those left out is veteran midfielder Tana Umaga, who made his return to Super rugby last weekend.
The former All Black skipper fails to make the 22 this time around and Foster said the reason was not form, but player management.
In other changes, first five-eighth Stephen Donald and halfback Brendon Leonard will begin in the reserves.
Their starting spots go to Mike Delany, who sat out last weekend because of a facial cut, and Tawera Kerr-Barlow.
Foster said he was happy with how Leonard had gone in a match where he had limited opportunities, while Kerr-Barlow did well when he came off the bench.
"This is a chance to put them in different roles and see how that goes," he said.
"We also have Taniela Moa who has been training very well, so it's going to be a tough decision every week at No 9."
Foster said Delany had been present throughout the whole of the Chiefs' pre-season and was too good a footballer not to get game time early in the campaign.
