SYDNEY: All Black powerhouse Ma'a Nonu joins select company in Super Rugby over the Easter weekend as leaders Wellington Hurricanes face the Western Stormers, while David Pocock returns to his favoured No.7 position for the ACT Brumbies.
Nonu will play his 150th Super Rugby game at inside-centre for the Hurricanes against the South Africans in Wellington on Friday.
He will join two New Zealand hookers -- Keven Mealamu and Corey Flynn -- and Australian lock Nathan Sharpe in reaching the milestone.
It will be the 32-year-old's 114th appearance for the Hurricanes, having also played for the Auckland Blues and Otago Highlanders in recent seasons.
Nonu will form part of a powerhouse Hurricanes backline along with All Blacks winger Julian Savea and fly-half Beauden Barrett.
The Hurricanes are the only unbeaten team in the competition, while the Stormers are eighth with four wins from six outings and coming off a 39-21 loss to the Highlanders in Dunedin last weekend.
Returning Springboks Duane Vermeulen and Eben Etzebeth will give the Stormers the extra grunt up front for the match.
Former Wallaby captain Pocock returns to open-side flanker, while Wallaby centre Tevita Kuridrani is out injured for the second-placed Brumbies home match with South Africa's Central Cheetahs.
Pocock's second start of the year comes on the back of a solid return two weeks ago from the bench against the Waratahs. He pushes Jarrad Butler to No.8 and Ita Vaea on to the bench.
With Kuridrani out, the Australian conference leading Brumbies have switched Henry Speight from the wing to outside-centre.
"David made a successful return to rugby last week and we'll see him start, while Jarrad Butler, who's been fantastic for us all year, moves to No.8," coach Stephen Larkham said.
"Henry's itching to get his hands on the ball a little bit more and we've moved him to 13."
Springboks Willie le Roux and Coenie Oosthuizen return for the Cheetahs after being rested last week, while scrum-half Sarel Pretorius, who missed the first two games of the tour for the birth of his second child in Bloemfontein, will be playing from the bench.
All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter will miss the Canterbury Crusaders game against the Coastal Sharks in Durban after returning to New Zealand to attend the birth of his second child.
Carter has been replaced by Nathaniel Apa, while Colin Slade is likely to wear the No.10 shirt on Saturday.
Sharks centre Francois Steyn will be missing as he serves a four-game ban after the Super 15 governing body successfully appealed a decision not to punish him for a red card in a recent game.
Steyn, a 2007 Rugby World Cup winner with the Springboks, was sent off on March 21 after a dangerous lifting tackle on Waikato Chiefs and All Blacks fly-half Aaron Cruden.
A judicial hearing surprisingly cleared Steyn and removed the red card from his record, but the ruling body appealed the verdict.
"I am not quite sure how it happened (getting to the top of the South Africa conference) given some of the challenges we have had but I am very happy nonetheless," Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold said.
"But nobody in our camp is fooled into thinking we are playing anywhere near well enough to be title contenders. We are grateful to win these close ones (against the Force and the Chiefs the week before) but I just feel we should not be in situations where we just get over the line."
In the Easter weekend's remaining games, the Chiefs face the Blues in Hamilton, the Rebels host the Queensland Reds in Melbourne and the Golden Lions take on the Northern Bulls in Johannesburg, while the NSW Waratahs, Highlanders and Western Force have byes.
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