Rugby: Umaga to start for Chiefs

Brendon Leonard. Photo / Getty Images

Former All Black skipper Tana Umaga will make his Super rugby return when he runs out for the Chiefs against the Brumbies on Saturday night.

Umaga, 37, was today named as the Chiefs' second five-eighth for the clash in Canberra.

The Counties Manukau player-assistant coach will make his first appearance in Super rugby after a four-year break from the competition.

He played in the very first Super 12 fixture in 1996, for the Hurricanes against the Blues in 1996, and his 122nd and last match for the Wellington-based franchise was in 2007.

Others who will don the Chiefs' jersey for the first time are No 8 Fritz Lee, hooker Dan Perrin, lock Hayden Triggs and loose forward Scott Waldrom, with Lee making his Super rugby debut in the starting 15.

Perrin, Triggs and Waldrom, recruited from the Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes respectively, will be on the bench.

The run-on side also features the return of All Black winger Sitiveni Sivivatu, who battled shoulder and knee injuries last year, which he spent mostly on the sidelines.

nzherald.co.nz will have livescoring of the Chiefs clash against the Brumbies from 9.40pm Saturday

Chiefs side:
Mils Muliaina (captain), Tim Nanai-Williams, Dwayne Sweeney, Tana Umaga, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Stephen Donald, Brendon Leonard, Fritz Lee, Tanerau Latimer, Liam Messam, Romana Graham, Craig Clarke, Nathan White, Aled de Malmanche, Ben May.

Reserves: Toby Smith, Daniel Perrin, Hayden Triggs, Scott Waldrom, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Jackson Willison, Lelia Masaga.

- NZPA