Charlie Ngatai

After missing the trip to Cape Town for the 17-11 quarterfinal win over the Stormers with an ankle injury, Ngatai has recovered and been named at second five-eighth for the clash in Christchurch on Saturday night. He takes the place of Stephen Donald, who was impressive against the Stormers, but will instead play from the bench.

An ankle injury suffered in the 28-10 final-round win over the Brumbies in Hamilton last Saturday night kept the 26-year-old from travelling with the team, coach Dave Rennie revealed from South Africa on Tuesday evening.

Ngatai went down early in the match, and while he played on, he was then pulled at halftime as a precaution, but in the end wasn't taken on the long haul, with Rennie seeing it as too much of a gamble.

After being out of Super Rugby for a year following the head knock he sustained last season, Ngatai returned with a strong performance against the Reds in New Plymouth on May 6, but following the bye he had headaches post-training on May 15.

That saw him ruled out of the match against the Crusaders in Fiji, and the Chiefs understandably played it cautiously in keeping him out of the game against the Blues in Auckland last Friday.

After his year out following a head knock last season, Ngatai missed the match against the Crusaders in Fiji last Friday after reporting a headache post-training on the Monday. The team played it safe and kept him from travelling with the squad overseas the following day.

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said while Ngatai was on the improve, he was unlikely to play a part at Eden Park.

"Charlie's pretty good," he said. "He's had about four days symptom-free. But we're unlikely to use him this week. We want to be really sure.

The one-time All Black has only just returned to the field after a year out with concussion symptoms, making his return 11 days ago in the Chiefs' 46-17 win over the Reds in New Plymouth.

But the headaches that plagued the 26-year-old throughout 2016 returned after training, with no apparent cause.

RNZI reports Ngatai will sit out the Chiefs' match against the Crusaders in Fiji, with Anton Lienert-Brown moving over to second-five and Sam McNicol slotting into centre.