No 8 Liam Squire will make his first start for the Highlanders in their friendly against Racing 92 in Hong Kong on Saturday.

The current Super Rugby champions have named a strong 28-man squad for the clash, which includes World Cup-winner Waisake Naholo and new co-captain Shane Christie.

Squire, who moved to Otago after two seasons with the Chiefs, will make his Highlanders debut along with Otago local Matt Faddes, who starts at fullback in place of Ben Smith.

Highlanders – 15 Matt Faddes, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Jason Emery, 12 Richard Buckman, 11 Patrick Osborne, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Josh Renton, 8 Liam Squire, 7 Shane Christie (c), 6 Elliot Dixon, 5 Joe Wheeler, 4 Tom Franklin, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Ash Dixon, 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown.
Subs: 16 Greg Pleasants-Tate, 17 Brendon Edmonds, 18 Siosiua Halanukonuka, 19 Jackson Hemopo, 20 Sio Tomkinson, 21 Liam Howley, 22 Malakai Fekitoa, 23 Tei Walden, 24 Ryan Tongia, 25 Marty Banks, 26 Luke Whitelock, 27 James Lentjes, 28 Mark Reddish.

Photo: Michael Bradley/Getty Images