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Sunwolves shake up backline for Crusaders

Cape Town - There are five changes in the pack and one in the backline in the Sunwolves team to face the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.

Kick-off is at 09:35 SA time.

In the backline, William Tupou has come in for Kotaro Matsushima at fullback. Semisi Masirewa has dropped to the bench with Hosea Saumaki replacing him on the right wing, while Kenki Fukuoka takes the place of Lomano Lemeki on the left wing.

There is a new halfback combination as Hayden Parker is preferred over Ya Tamura at flyhalf, while Fumiaki Tanaka gets the nod ahead of Yutaka Nagare.

The only change in the forwards sees Shota Horie replaced by Georgia international Jaba Bregvadze at hooker.

Teams:

Crusaders

15 George Bridge, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Manasa Mataele, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Mitchell Drummond, 8 Tom Sanders, 7 Matt Todd (captain) 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Quinten Strange, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Ben Funnell, 1 Tim Perry

Substitutes: 16 Andrew Makalio, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Chris King, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Jack Stratton, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Seta Tamanivalu

Sunwolves

15 William Tupou, 14 Hosea Saumaki, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Michael Little, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Kazuki Himeno, 7 Pieter Lappies Labuschagne (captain), 6 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 James Moore, 3 Jiwon Koo, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Craig Millar

Substitutes: 16 Yusuke Niwai, 17 Shintaro Ishihara, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 Edward Quirk, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Ryoto Nakamura, 23 Semisi Masirewa

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