Robinson and Horne back to take on the Chiefs

The Waratahs have made a number of changes to the side which will take on the Chiefs at Hamilton's Waikato Stadium on Saturday night, including the return to the starting line-up of Benn Robinson and Rob Horne.

In addition to Robinson and Horne who have not played since the round nine clash with the Crusaders, selectors have named Pat McCutcheon to make his run-on debut at blindside flanker while Luke Burgess also returns to the team as starting scrumhalf.

Positional changes will see Berrick Barnes start at flyhalf for the first time since round two, while Tom Carter and Rob Horne will pair up in the centres for the first time since round nine last year.

Head coach Chris Hickey said while the line-up takes on a distinctly different look to that which took the field last week, the changes were due to a combination of injury and strategy.

"Bringing players back the quality of Benn Robinson and Rob Horne will be a real boost," said Hickey.

"They've really worked hard to ensure they're in the best possible shape for this match and we wouldn't take them in to the game if they weren't confident in their own ability to do the job.

"Pat McCutcheon provided a lot of energy when he came onto the park for his debut last week and his opportunity to earn a run-on cap at Super 14 level if probably overdue.

"Tommy Carter is also back to the position he has played most of his rep footy. It might seem like a big change to have different players in our 9, 10, 12 and 13 jerseys from what took the park last week, but in reality these guys have all played and trained a lot together.

"Tom has played outside Berrick for most of the season, and Rob played outside Tom as a 12-13 centre pairing for most of 2008 and 2009 so there will be no problem with those guys working together."

Waratahs team

15. Kurtley Beale , 14. Lachie Turner , 13. Rob Horne , 12. Tom Carter , 11. Drew Mitchell , 10. Berrick Barnes , 9. Luke Burgess , 8. Ben Mowen , 7. Phil Waugh [c] , 6. Patrick McCutcheon , 5. Kane Douglas , 4. Dean Mumm , 3. Al Baxter , 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau , 1. Benn Robinson

Reserves , 16. Damien Fitzpatrick , 17. Dan Palmer / Jeremy Tilse , 18. Chris Thomson , 19. Dave Dennis , 20. Josh Holmes , 21. Daniel Halangahu , 22. Sosene Anesi