March 19 (Reuters) - The ACT Brumbies will look to honour one of the great servants of Australian rugby on Friday by giving prop James Slipper a win in front of home fans in Canberra where he will pack down in a record 203rd Super Rugby match against the Waikato Chiefs.
The 36-year-old Queenslander will eclipse the record shared with former All Black and fellow loosehead Wyatt Crockett, who played all 202 of his matches with the powerhouse Canterbury Crusaders.
Slipper, who retired from test rugby last season with a record 151 Wallabies caps, has had no shortage of milestone matches and is keen to get this one over with after being rested for the 42-27 away defeat by Fijian Drua.
"I'm really proud of the achievement but I'd love nothing more than to get a good result," he said.
Slipper's Super Rugby career has been split roughly into two halves, having played 104 matches in nine seasons for the Queensland Reds before joining the Brumbies in 2019.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham can see the evergreen prop playing on in Super Rugby Pacific and even pushing for Wallabies selection at the 2027 World Cup on home soil should the country need him.
"You need a fairly strong, healthy squad going into the World Cup and I’d certainly rank him in the top three (props) in Australia at the moment," Larkham said.
SEMI-FINAL REPLAY
The Brumbies, third in the table but level on 15 points with the Wellington Hurricanes and second-placed Auckland Blues, have asked fans to wear slippers as a tribute at Canberra Stadium -- but wet weather and the Chiefs could spoil the party.
Rated championship contenders, the fourth-placed Chiefs have won their last five matches against the Brumbies by an average margin of just over 18 points.
In their last meeting, the Chiefs won 37-17 at Waikato Stadium to knock the Brumbies out of last year's semi-finals.
Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes welcomes back captain Luke Jacobson after the back rower recovered from a hip issue, while the Brumbies will be stronger for the return of rested skipper Ryan Lonergan and winger Corey Toole, who returns from a quadriceps injury.
A week after falling short to Les Kiss's Reds, the sixth-placed New South Wales Waratahs return home to Sydney for a crunch match against the visiting Blues on Saturday.
Sitting at 2-2, another loss to the Blues would leave the Waratahs' title hopes in jeopardy ahead of away fixtures against the Brumbies and Chiefs.
The Reds, however, are humming along nicely with three wins on the trot.
That streak could well be broken, though, when they travel to steamy Lautoka without several top players to meet the Drua in the early game on Saturday.
In-form flyhalf Carter Gordon, Wallabies flanker Fraser McReight and prop Zane Nonggor are among those rested for the match in Fiji, where the Reds have never won.
The Hurricanes will look to shore up top spot when they travel south to face the Otago Highlanders on Friday, while the slow-starting Crusaders will look to get their title defence back on track against struggling Moana Pasifika in Auckland on Saturday.
The eighth-placed Crusaders are coming off a home win over the Highlanders but their discipline remains under scrutiny, having racked up seven yellow cards in their five matches, four more than any other side.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
