Hurricanes

The 2016 champions ran in seven tries to two against their injury-ravaged opponents, who struggled to make inroads through makeshift first-five Fletcher Smith.

The decision to play Ardie Savea at No.8 paid dividends as the Test loose forward claimed a try and seven tackles, while the physical midfield duo of Ngani Laumape and Matt Proctor stood out.

They'll take a week off before travelling to Brisbane to take on the Reds, while the Highlanders will lick their wounds before tussling with the Brumbies.

The All Black co-captain sat out his team's last two games with concussion, after he took a nasty blow to the head in a season opening loss to the Chiefs in Dunedin.

Smith's return is much needed good news for Coach Tony Brown, whose side has been ravaged by injuries through the opening three weeks of the competition. 

However, including season ending injuries to Jason Emery and Hayden Parker, 15 players were unavailable for selection against the Hurricanes. 

Beyond that, there's very little we can tell you about the Hurricanes fullback and the foot he injured in Friday's 26-18 loss to the Chiefs. Milner-Skudder's in a moon boot – but not a bad mood, apparently – and had scans of his foot taken on Monday.

What they revealed remains unclear, though.

"Not a sure update yet, we're still waiting for results," Hurricanes backs coach Jason Holland said on Monday afternoon.

"Obviously he was in a bit of pain the other night and is struggling for this weekend, but we're still waiting for the results."

Tries from lock Brodie Retallick and winger Toni Pulu in the first half as well as 16 points from the faultless boot of fullback Damian McKenzie kept intact the 100 percent record of the twice former champions after three matches.

The Hurricanes had scored in 24 tries and 154 points in their first two outings of the campaign but were unable to reproduce their high-intensity attack in such poor conditions against New Zealand opposition.

The 31-year-old hooker, set to win his 107th Chiefs cap against the Hurricanes in Hamilton on Friday, believes they're 'firing beyond' from where they were 12 months ago after two dominant displays against the Highlanders and the Blues.

Kane Hames and Nepo Laulala will start either side of Elliot in the front row for the third successive game, which is the only consistency in selection the Chiefs have stuck with in their forwards this season.

That's the assessment of Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd, whose side defeated the Lions in last year's decider.

Boyd doesn't base this year's verdict on a belief that the Lions are far and away the best team in the competition. More that the South African side's soft draw means they should enjoy a home playoff run in Johannesburg.

The Stormers burgled their way into a home quarterfinal, thanks in part to no clashes with any New Zealand franchises. Now it's the Lions' turn.

The second five-eighth, in his second season back in the 15-man form of the game after leaving the Warriors at the end of 2015, has continued his strong run of form from the NPC, where he was a key attacking weapon for Manawatu, in two starts for the Hurricanes this year.

But the challenge will be maintaining that level for the full season

Last year he started the first six matches, but only played a minor role for the remainder of the season.

Laumape believed avoiding injuries was the key to that after battling a niggling groin injury for most of last year.

Fresh off their 83-17 demolition of the Sunwolves in Tokyo, the Hurricanes host the Rebels in Wellington on Saturday.
 
The star trio are among four changes to the starting XV. The other sees Reed Prinsep come in at No 8 to for the injured Blade Thomson.
 
Hurricanes hooker and captain Coles and first-five Barrett swap places with Ricky Riccitelli and Otere Black respectively after coming off the bench in Tokyo.

Milner-Skudder injured his hamstring playing against the Crusaders in their final pre-season game last weekend and didn't make the trip to play the Sunwolves in Tokyo.

Also missing is prop Loni Uhila who has a calf injury.

Coach Chris Boyd's 25-man touring squad includes all four of the Hurricanes 2016 All Blacks with captain and hooker Dane Coles, openside Ardie Savea, wing Julian Savea and star first five Beauden Barrett all on the plane to Japan.

The Johannesburg-based Lions, who lost to the Hurricanes in last season's final, also start on the road but their journey is considerably shorter as they face the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein later on the same day.

Argentina's Jaguares will also be in South Africa on the opening weekend to play the Kings in Port Elizabeth, while the heavyweight Crusaders-ACT Brumbies and Stormers-Bulls clashes should also attract plenty of attention.