Blues v Chiefs
Kick-off: 7.05pm Saturday 22 June
Eden Park, Auckland
Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport
The scene is set for a memorable final at a sold-out Eden Park - will the Blues and Chiefs rise to the occasion? That's the big question as the styles of both sides suggests a tough, tight encounter, with the keys to victory most likely dependent on who can win the breakdown battle.
The Blues come in with a full-strength squad, while the Chiefs have had a disrupted build up with injury. There's an interesting connection in the coaches' box, as Vern Cotter was once the coach of Clayton McMillan at Bay of Plenty, so both men are on familiar terms.
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan and Blues coach Vern Cotter. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Here's a look at the teams:
Blues: 1 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 3 Marcel Renata, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu (c), 5 Sam Darry, 6 Akira Ioane, 7 Dalton Papali'i, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 9 Finlay Christie, 10 Harry Plummer, 11 Caleb Clarke, 12 AJ Lam, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Mark Tele'a, 15 Stephen Perofeta
Bench: 16 Kurt Eklund, 17 Joshua Fusitu'a, 18 Angus Ta'avao, 19 Josh Beehre, 20 Adrian Choat, 21 Taufa Funaki, 22 Bryce Heem, 23 Cole Forbes
Chiefs: 1. Aidan Ross, 2. Tyrone Thompson, 3. George Dyer, 4. Jimmy Tupou, 5. Tupou Vaa'I, 6. Samipeni Finau, 7. Luke Jacobson (c), 8. Wallace Sititi, 9. Cortez Ratima, 10. Damian McKenzie, 11. Etene Nanai-Seturo, 12. Rameka Poihipi, 13. Anton Lienert-Brown, 14. Emoni Narawa, 15. Shaun Stevenson
Bench: 16. Bradley Slater, 17. Jared Proffit, 18. Reuben O'Neill, 19. Manaaki Selby-Rickit, 20. Simon Parker, 21. Xavier Roe, 22. Quinn Tupaea, 23. Daniel Rona
Blues selections
Patrick Tuipulotu. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
The big news of the week has been Patrick Tuipulotu recovering from a knee injury five weeks ahead of schedule to lead the side.
His return sees Josh Beehre go back to the bench, otherwise Vern Cotter's side are unchanged from last weekend's win over the Brumbies.
Chiefs selections
Tyrone Thompson. Photo: Bruce Lim / www.photosport.nz
Meanwhile, Tyrone Thompson has been quickly promoted up the depth chart to starting hooker after an injury to Samisoni Taukei'aho.
Bradley Slater's inclusion on the bench is most likely for an emergency only, as he was forced from the field last weekend as well. Shaun Stevenson returns to the starting line up after being a late scratching in the semi-final.
What they're saying
"It's his leadership and calming presence in big games that will be critical. Everyone needs to do their jobs and he'll do his with the Patty flavour to it…it's going to be fairly intense and he'll help create the resilience in the team to help stay in as long as we can to get the result we want." - Blues coach Vern Cotter on Patrick Tuipulotu.
"We have no fear about going to Eden Park. The last time we went up there we didn't have our strongest team out there and there were still elements of the game I was happy with. We fully understand what we're walking into, but we're not daunted by it either." - Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan.
The last time they met
Blues 31 - 17 Chiefs
Can anything be read into this one? Probably not, given that the Chiefs clearly shifted down a gear after conceding an early lead and there was nothing for them really to play for (ironically their last try cost the Blues a crucial bonus point).
The Blues will take some confidence out of their edge at the set piece in that game, as they won several key scrum penalties and disrupted the Chiefs' lineout.
Prediction
Prepare for a tight, methodical battle up the middle of the park. If the Blues have their way they'll be happy to do that all day off the field position Harry Plummer and Stephen Perofeta can give them, so penalties can't be given away lightly.
The Chiefs have skirted very close to the edge of the law so far this year, so just how much they push ref Nic Berry will be interesting given what's on the line.
The two backlines do very much mirror each other in terms of firepower, but the intriguing match-up will be Plummer against Damian McKenzie at 10.
Both men play a very different styles and while Plummer will be dependant on his forward pack, DMac needs some open running lanes in a broken field.
