Hurricanes loose forward Victor Vito will return to action on Saturday night when his side hosts the Sharks at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
The All Black has been sidelined since suffering a calf injury in the round eight victory over the Stormers last month.
He will pull on the No 8 jersey this week, which pushes Brad Shields to the bench, while Blade Thomson will move to the blindside of the scrum in part of a loose forward reshuffle from coach Chris Boyd. Flanker Callum Gibbins has dropped to the reserves to accommodate Thomson.
Elsewhere, prop Chris Eves will make the first start of his Super Rugby career after making 21 previous appearances from the bench as loosehead Reggie Goodes moves to the pine.
"Chris has been with the Hurricanes for years now and he's gone through the wider training group. He's had some really good cameos off the bench for us and deserves his start," Boyd said.