Super Rugby

Five games into their debut season, players are being rested as the travel and playing demands become a reality.

Captain Agustin Creevy heads a list of 10 players left behind in Buenos Aries to recover while their teammates play the Blues this round in Albany then the Hurricanes in Wellington.

The streak stretched back to July 2015, making Monday's round four victory their first this season.

The home side was strengthened by the return from injury of Isaac Luke and Manu Vatuvei, who both scored tries, and the promotion from reserve grade of popular centre Konrad Hurrell.

In Durban, South Africa, the Crusaders recovered from two intercept tries to Sharks wing Lwazi Mvovo to win 19-14 thanks to a try in the last 10 minutes to All Blacks No. 8 Kieran Read.

The Crusaders had all the territory and possession at Kings Park, but two backline mistakes allowed Mvovo to speed away for a 14-7 lead for the home team.

Leading 2015 Rugby World Cup points scorer Nicolas Sanchez fluffed two relatively simple chances to add to his early penalty against the South African visitors.

The fly-half missed the conversion of a try by centre Jeronimo de la Fuente at the end of a first half in which all 21 points were scored before a large crowd at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires.

The Hurricanes execution at pace in the opening quarter had indicated another rout was on the cards for the Kings, who had conceded 158 points in their first three games this season.

The home side scored tries to Ngani Laumape, Blade Thomson and Ardie Savea to establish a 19-3 lead in the first 25 minutes, with Savea's efforts promoting his All Black call-up chances later in the year.

In the forwards, regular starting lock Joe Wheeler re-joins the team and will partner with Mark Reddish who, after a good showing last week against the Waratahs, has been promoted to the starting fifteen.

The locks who started against the Waratahs last weekend, Alex Ainley and Tom Franklin, have both been left out of the matchday 23 this week.

He has been named on the bench for the home team's game that night against the Western Force.

Donald, who kicked the winning penalty in the final of the 2011 World Cup, will don the Chiefs jersey for the first time since then.

Three players, meanwhile, are expected to make their debut for the franchise.

The former All Black must have been pulling out his scraggly dreadlocks on Saturday night in the coaches box as he watched his young side capitulate at Suncorp Stadium, only to come back and snatch a late draw at Suncorp Stadium.  

The replacement halfback dived over in the dying stages of a great contest at Jose Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning (NZ time) to snuff out a late Jaguares comeback in front of a sold-out crowd of around 24,000.

In control at 23-14, the Chiefs were staring down the barrel after a gutsy home side came roaring back.

Despite fielding a supposedly depowered back three and the absence of two key forwards, the Highlanders notched their fifth win in seven matches over the New South Welshmen, though not before the concession of three tries in eight minutes set up a frantic climax at Allianz Stadium.