The Brumbies will start against Otago without Australian skipper George Gregan, while defending champion Auckland face a Bulls tight five of test strength today in Super 12 round eight matches.
The league-leading ACT Brumbies host the Highlanders at Canberra, two days after franchise officials decided to dump coach David Nucifora at the end of the season.
Gregan was relegated to the bench and replaced by Matt Henjak in a move that Nucifora said was aimed at development and not form related.
In tomorrow's matches, struggling Queensland is at home to the third-place Stormers, while South African clubs the Sharks host second-place Canterbury at Durban and the winless Cats take on Waikato.
Bulls coach Rudy Joubert has named Richard Bands, Danie Coetzee and Christo Bezuidenhout in his front row against the Auckland Blues, reuniting the Springbok tight five which played against England in the pool rounds of last year's World Cup.
That obvious forward strength will stretch the Blues who have to win at Albany Stadium, and probably take a bonus point, to keep alive their hopes of defending the Super 12 crown they won from Canterbury last year.
The Blues have only two wins and 12 points from six matches this season and, with their bye behind them and two matches to play in South Africa, have placed emphasis on home wins as they attempt to stimulate a weakening campaign.
They salvaged an important win from an unimpressive performance against the New South Wales Waratahs last week but that match only pointed out forward weaknesses the giant Bulls will eagerly exploit.
The Blues lineout was ragged against the Waratahs and their scrum was unsettled. Their reluctance to commit forwards to breakdowns also deprived their backline, six of whom are All Blacks, of the quick, go-forward ball.
The loss of All Blacks lock Brad Mika with a shoulder injury will hurt the Blues, though his place will be taken by another All Black, Ali Williams.
With All Blacks props Kees Meeuws and Tony Woodcock on either side of the workhorse hooker Derren Witcombe, the Blues have a useful tight five but they have acknowledged set pieces must improve.
"We are desperate to get two more wins before we head for South Africa, otherwise it will be a long, hard trip," Witcombe said. "It has been a difficult season so far but it will show our character if we can pull through."
The Blues have made one form-related change to the lineup that beat NSW, naming David Gibson at scrumhalf in place of All Black Steve Devine.
The Bulls have Jacques Cronje in place of Anton Leonard at No. 8 and included Norman Jordaan in place of Fourie du Preez at scrumhalf.
The Otago Highlanders have made two changes to take on the Brumbies. Jimmy Cowan returns from injury to replace Ben Hurst at scrumhalf while Aisea Tuilevu replaces the injured Iliesa Tanivula on the wing.
Otago has won four of eight matches against the Brumbies but placed favoritism with the home team -- the Highlanders have won only once in Canberra.
"They're the favorites," said coach Greg Cooper. "We've gone out in every game and shown we can be competitive so we have to go to Canberra with a belief.
"It's just a matter of being accurate for longer periods, hopefully for 80 minutes. If we can do that and eliminate mistakes, we'll give ourselves a chance."
Despite being six points clear of the competition with five wins from seven matches, the Brumbies are vulnerable following a 47-28 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch last week and the imminent departure Nucifora.
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