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Hurricanes get some serious firepower back

He was named in the Hurricanes squad to face the Sunwolves in a Round 11 encounter.

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The All Black wing has been sidelined since injuring his shoulder in October and is part of a strong Hurricanes line-up selected by coach Chris Boyd.

Scrumhalf Finlay Christie will make his debut for the Hurricanes and will have plenty of experience outside him with Beauden Barrett starting inside an exciting midfield pairing of Vince Aso and Matt Proctor.

Boyd has opted to make some changes in the pack from the squad who beat the Chiefs a fortnight earlier.

Ben May comes in for Jeff Toomaga-Allen, while Reed Prinsep comes into the loose forward mix – with captain Brad Shields moving to No.8, as Gareth Evans, who has started every match, moves to the bench.

Ardie Savea, who was injured against the Highlanders in March, has been bracketed with Sam Henwood – who has recovered from a head knock he suffered early against the Chiefs.

Experienced wing Julian Savea also returns to the starting X, after he missed the Chiefs match and will be joined at the back by the competition's leading try scorer Ben Lam and in-form Jordie Barrett.

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There is plenty of quality on the bench – which will feature the return of Milner-Skudder from a long-term shoulder injury, while Jackson Garden-Bachop replaces Ihaia West.

Centre Ngani Laumape and lock Vaea Fifita have been given the week off.

Hurricanes: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Julian Savea, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Vince Aso, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Brad Shields (captain), 7 Ardie Savea/Sam Henwood, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Murray Douglas, 4 Michael Fatialofa, 3 Ben May, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Toby Smith.

Replacements: 16 James O'Reilly, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Sam Lousi, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Jamie Booth, 22 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23 Nehe Milner-Skudder.

Date: Friday, April 27

Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT; 16.35 Japan time)

Referee: Jamie Nutbrown

Assistant referees: Mike Fraser, Nick Briant

TMO: Ben Skeen

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Wednesday Windback: @jordie_barrett on debut. πŸ‘ΆπŸ½

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