All Blacks first five-eighth Aaron Cruden will play his first rugby match since injuring his knee at the World Cup when he turns out for the Chiefs in their Super Rugby warm-up in Melbourne on Friday.
Cruden, 22, hyper-extended his right knee half an hour into New Zealand's World Cup final against France in October. He will be making his debut for the Chiefs after switching from the Hurricanes last year.
Coach Dave Rennie has named a 29-strong squad to travel to play the Rebels in the Chiefs' first warm-up match of the season. He has included some of the Chiefs' wider training group members as he looks to test a range of combinations.
New signing Sonny Bill Williams won't be travelling, concentrating instead on his February 8 New Zealand heavyweight title bout against Clarence Tillman in Hamilton.
His Chiefs teammates plan to attend the fight in support of Williams before they travel to Queenstown for a pre-season match against Otago Highlanders on February 11.
The Chiefs squad to travel to Melbourne is: Alex Bradley, Phillip Burleigh, Shane Cleaver, Aaron Cruden, Marcel Cumming-Toone, Hika Elliot, Mike Fitzgerald, Josh Hohneck, Andrew Horrell, Richard Kahui, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Tanerau Latimer, Fritz Lee, Brendon Leonard, Lelia Masaga, Liam Messam, Tim Nanai-Williams, Martino Nemani, Augustine Pulu, Ronald Raaymakers, Brodie Retallick, Robbie Robinson, Toby Smith, Ben Tameifuna, Sona Taumalolo, Kane Thompson, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Scott Waldrom, Jackson Willison.
NZN