All Blacks five-eighth Aaron Cruden will play his first rugby match since injuring his knee in the World Cup final when he turns out for the Chiefs in their Super Rugby warm-up against the Melbourne Rebels on Friday.
Cruden, 22, hyper-extended his right knee half an hour into New Zealand’s World Cup final win over France in October.
He will be making his debut for the Chiefs in the Melbourne trial game after switching from the Hurricanes last year.
Coach Dave Rennie has named a 29-strong squad for the Melbourne trip, including 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 the 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.