Laulala and Smith ruled out for semi clash

Conrad Smith

Centres Casey Laulala and Conrad Smith have lost their fitness battles before tomorrow night's Super 12 semifinal between the Crusaders and Hurricanes at Jade Stadium in Christchurch.

Laulala failed to recover from the hamstring strain which forced him out of the Crusaders' line-up last weekend.

The Hurricanes' Smith has suspected concussion from a head clash with Caleb Ralph in the opening minutes of the round-robin match between the sides.

Ralph and Tane Tu'ipulotu have been named as the Crusaders and Hurricanes' centres respectively.

Crusaders coach Robbie Deans confirmed that Laulala was ruled out of contention yesterday. "It was close, but the nature of the hamstring is such that it's only when you get the top end that it really becomes an issue," Deans said.

"We didn't want to risk it. It wasn't in Casey's interests or our own."

Although he was able to stride out, Laulala was unable to hit top speed. While the Crusaders were able to play Ralph alongside second five-eighths Aaron Mauger for the full 80 minutes in last Friday's 40-20 win over the Hurricanes, the Hurricanes haven't had the same luxury.

At Jade Stadium they will field their third different midfield combination in as many matches.

Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper has shifted Tane Tu'ipulotu from second-five to centre and brought captain Tana Umaga, who was rested last week, back into the vacant No 12 spot.

However, there is some mystery about whether they will start in those positions, with Cooper declining to confirm the decision was final.

"Some changes might happen yet," Cooper said. "We'll decide on who will play at 12 or 13 later. Nothing is confirmed."

While Umaga has been a success for the Hurricanes at second-five this season, and for Wellington and the All Blacks last year, Tu'ipulotu has had little recent experience at centre.

Both sides have changed from last week's starting teams, with the Hurricanes making eight positional changes to the Crusaders' four.

As expected, the Crusaders have brought captain and openside flanker Richie McCaw back after he played 30 minutes last week, and No 8 Mose Tuiali'i replaces Sam Broomhall.

Prop Greg Somerville swaps to the more familiar tighthead side and Dave Hewett comes back into the loosehead after being rested.

The Hurricanes have made five changes to their pack, with blindside flanker Jerry Collins returning and the bigger Chris Masoe ousting openside Ben Herring.

The dropping of Herring, who has been in good form recently, is a surprise and it's expected Masoe will use his bulk to counter McCaw by wiping him out at the breakdown.

Cooper shed little light on why he had relegated Herring, saying both had been playing well.

Tighthead prop Tim Fairbrother failed a fitness test on his shoulder yesterday. Neemia Tialata swaps sides to replace him, while Tony Penn comes into the loosehead.

Andrew Hore, who was rested last week, is back at hooker.

Such is the paucity of tighthead props, former captain Gordon Slater has answered an SOS and left his dairy farm to sit in the reserves.

Although he has been playing only club rugby this year, Slater has been maintaining his fitness in preparation for Taranaki's match against the Lions on June 8.

Apart from the midfield reshuffle, the Hurricanes have made just one more change to their backline, with fullback Shannon Paku recovering from injury to replace Isaac Boss.

* Christchurch, 7.35pm tomorrow

Crusaders

Leon MacDonald, Rico Gear, Caleb Ralph, Aaron Mauger, Scott Hamilton, Daniel Carter, Justin Marshall, Mose Tuali'i, Richie McCaw (c), Reuben Thorne, Ross Filipo, Chris Jack, Greg Somerville, Corey Flynn, Dave Hewett

Hurricanes

Shannon Paku, Lome Fa'atau, Tane Tuipulotu, Tana Umaga (c), Ma'a Nonu, Jimmy Gopperth, Piri Weepu, Rodney So'oialo, Chris Masoe, Jerry Collins, Luke Andrews, Ross Kennedy, Neemia Tialata, Andrew Hore, Tony Penn

Reserves:

Crusaders: Tone Kopelani, Campbell Johnstone, Sam Broomhall, Johnny Leo'o, Jamie Nutbrown, Andrew Mehrtens, Vilimoni Delasau.

Hurricanes: Joe Ward, Gordon Slater, Paul Tito, Ben Herring, Isaac Boss, Hosea Gear, Brent Ward.

- NZPA