Sonny Bill Williams has been dropped to the Canterbury reserve bench for their national provincial championship rugby match against Wellington in Christchurch on Saturday.

Despite some sharp attacking form in recent weeks, the high-profile former rugby league international has made way for Ryan Crotty in the rematch of last year's final.

A Super 14 regular starter for the Crusaders, Crotty returns from a foot injury to partner the in-form Robbie Fruean in the midfield.

Williams, who is chasing a place on the All Blacks' end-of-year tour, missed the first five rounds of the competition with injury.

He came off the reserve bench to replace Crotty against Bay of Plenty on September 3 and started subsequent matches against Northland and Taranaki.

Williams has proven to be an adept off-loader of the ball in the tackle but has shown weaknesses in other parts of his game, such as defensive positioning and securing possession on the ground.

There are four other changes to the Canterbury side.

Hooker Corey Flynn returns from All Blacks duty and to start in place of Steve Fualau while fellow-All Black Colin Slade starts ahead of Stephen Brett at first-five. Brett is also demoted to the bench.

Three players return from injury - Crotty, No.8 Nasi Manu (knee) and wing Tu Umaga-Marshall (shoulder). Manu and Umaga-Marshall start ahead of Ash Parker and Patrick Osborne respectively.

The match will be played in front of a near-capacity crowd after the Canterbury Rugby Union opted to make the match free admission following the recent earthquakes in the region.

Team:

Sean Maitland, Tu Umaga-Marshall, Robbie Fruean, Ryan Crotty, Telusa Veainu, Colin Slade, Andy Ellis, Nasi Manu, George Whitelock (captain), Matt Todd, Isaac Ross, Luke Romano, Peter Borlase, Corey Flynn, Wyatt Crockett. Reserves: Steve Fualau, Andrew Olorenshaw, Rob Verbakel, Ash Parker, Willi Heinz, Stephen Brett, Sonny Bill Williams

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