Colin Slade will play at first-five for Canterbury in their opening provincial rugby championship match against Auckland at Eden Park on Sunday afternoon.
After being called into the All Blacks this week, Slade's been in a pre-Tri Nations camp in Auckland but will join the Canterbury squad for the captain's run in Christchurch before flying back.
The team includes three players from the Crusaders squad.
Luke Romano and midfielder Ryan Crotty will start after being on the bench in the Super Rugby final loss to the Queensland Reds and centre Robbie Fruean, who started in Brisbane, is in the reserves.
So are the Crusaders and Canterbury veteran loose forward Reuben Thorne and the New Zealand Under-20 captain Luke Whitelock.
