Injured All Blacks hooker Dane Coles will miss his first Hurricanes match of the season when they host the Highlanders in Wellington.
Motu Matu'u is promoted to replace Coles in his first start of the Super Rugby campaign, one of four starting changes from the side who beat the Rebels 25-15 in Melbourne last week.
Tim Bateman replaces the hard-running Alipate Leiua at inside centre while Jack Lam returns at openside flank for Ardie Savea.
Jeffery Toomaga-Allen is restored at tighthead prop, pushing Ben Franks back to his preferred loosehead side and Reggie Goodes to the reserves bench.
The bench is a 6-2 forwards-backs split, with flanker Brad Shields added to the reserves in the latest step in his recovery from a knee injury.
Hooker Ash Dixon and halfback Chris Smylie are also promoted to the bench.
Coles injured his lower back against the Rebels and the status of the injury is unclear.
He was named this week in the All Blacks' training camp and is a key cog in the national team's plans, given the lack of experienced hookers available to coach Steve Hansen.
The sixth-placed Hurricanes, who have won six of their 11 games, are locked in a furious battle with several teams for the playoffs.
That includes the seventh-placed Highlanders, who have won six of 10 games, including last week's 23-22 defeat of the Lions.
Hurricanes: Andre Taylor, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith (capt), Tim Bateman, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Victor Vito, Jack Lam, Faifili Levave, James Broadhurst, Jeremy Thrush, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Motu Matu'u, Ben Franks. Res: Ash Dixon, Chris Eves, Reggie Goodes, Blade Thomson, Ardie Savea, Brad Shields, Chris Smylie, Alapati Leiua.
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