Reds

All they can do now is sit back and wait to see if they have to travel to Johannesburg to play the Lions or to Christchurch to play the Crusaders in the quarterfinals, something they might not know until about 5am on Sunday morning. 

Highlanders coach Tony Brown has maintained all week he'd rather play the unbeaten Crusaders, meaning he will be keeping a close eye on Saturday night's match between the Hurricanes and Crusaders in Wellington.

However, eight-Test flanker Liam Squire returns from injury to boost the Highlanders, who are fourth in the New Zealand conference and set to meet either South Africa's high-flying Lions or competition-leading countrymen the Crusaders in the quarter-finals.

Halfback Aaron Smith is rested after playing every match in the All Blacks' drawn Test series with the British and Irish Lions, while influential fullback Smith has been given another week off after vertigo kept him out of the final two tests.

The Blues region is home to about 150,000 Samoans while the team itself has a number of players with Samoan heritage, as well as head coach Tana Umaga.

"We've seen the amount of Samoan players that are playing overseas and it's good to take something back to the islands," he said.

"We saw it with obviously other teams going to Fiji and now it's Samoa's time. It will showcase what they can do and how they can cater for these big games, which is a positive," said Tana Umaga.

The family of Blues and All Black lock Patrick Tuipolotu emigrated to New Zealand from Samoa.

Moore is being rested by Queensland after a heavy load this season, coach Nick Stiles said, as the side prepares for the first Super Rugby clash to be played in Samoa.

It's not the first time the captain has been rested this season, left out of the side to face the Kings at Suncorp Stadium in round eight.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika confirmed Moore would be his Wallabies captain in June, meaning the 33-year-old's workload is far from easing off as the year goes on.

Stiles said Moore's absence was a planned one, a stance he has maintained this season.