www.testrugby.com managers will have to be careful when picking their teams this weekend.  Not only do three teams have the bye, but at the halfway stage some teams are starting to rest their top players.

Both Todd Blackadder and Jamie Joseph are using Saturday night's local derby match between the Crusaders and Highlanders to rest and rotate players.  While most of the country has a holiday weekend, so do some frontline players.  Changes are a-foot in the Crusaders camp with Kieran Read, Corey Flynn, Sean Maitland and Sonny Bill Williams not starting, while Richie McCaw is out with a foot injury.  The Highlanders have also come to the party in a match that could easily blowout into a festival match in Nelson by not including their loose forwards Adam Thomson, Alando Soakai along with Kade Poki and Shaun Treeby.

You can actually understand why both teams are doing this.  It is halfway through a tough Super Rugby competition and although the Crusaders respect the Highlanders, they know they have far greater depth and should still win while resting some players.  It is such a long competition.  The Highlanders have smaller fish to fry if that makes sense.  They realise that the Crusaders are expected to win and so will be resting players so they will be fresh to face the lesser lights of the New Zealand conference who they have a better chance of beating.

The Highlanders entire backline will be jumbled around with the inclusion of over-rated winger James Paterson and Tony Brown the talking points.  Robbie Robinson's general play was fine, but his goal kicking was poor last week, so Tony Brown should take over there.  It will be interesting to see how both teams gel with so many changes.