"Sam's performance off the bench against the Crusaders [last week] was exceptional and it's exactly what we've been looking for," said Ewen McKenzie, head coach of the Waratahs.

"I like the balance of this backline with Sam Norton-Knight at fly-half and Kurtley Beale to play his dynamic role off the bench."

Wycliff Palu has failed to recover from a hamstring problem, but lock Dean Mumm has overcome a shoulder injury to make a return on the bench.

David Lyons will become the third most capped Waratah in history this weekend passing Nathan Grey.

Lyons will play his 95th game for the Waratahs and his 89th Super Rugby match which is second only to Chris Whitaker who played 107 Super games.

Rookie scrum-half Josh Holmes is set to make his Super Rugby debut after being named on the bench.

Holmes comes into the side after Brett Sheehan aggravated a rib injury against the Crusaders last weekend.

Waratahs: 15 Peter Hewat, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Morgan Turinui (v-c), 12 Sam Harris, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 David Lyons, 7 Tim Davidson, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Will Caldwell, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Adam Freier (c), 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements - from: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Beau Robinson, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Kurtley Beale, 22 Ben Jacobs, 23 Daniel Halangahu, 24 Dave Dennis

Date: Sunday, 8 April
Venue: Canberra Stadium
Kick-off: 19.40 (09.40 GMT)
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges: Brett Bowden (Australia), George Ayoub (Australia)
Television match official: Geoff Acton (Australia)
Assessor: Ian Scotney (Australia)