Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd has named 32 players to meet the Crusaders in the Investec Super Rugby squad's first pre-season hit-out in Greymouth on Friday.

Fresh from the squad's five-day camp in Gisborne, Boyd has mixed experience with some newcomers to face the defending champions.

Six-cap Wallaby prop Toby Smith, who has returned to New Zealand after a stint with the Melbourne Rebels, will partner first season front rower Alex Fidow, who made such an impression for Wellington's in last year's Mitre 10 Cup, with Ricky Riccitelli named at hooker.

The experience in the pack is added to with Brad Shields named to start on the side of scrum with the exciting Brayden lose and Gareth Evans rounding out the loose forward trio.

With the Hurricanes' All Blacks not available for the match there is a chance for a number of players to stake their claim for a spot in the squad ahead of the side's opening Investec Super Rugby competition matches in South Africa and Argentina.

One of those players is Manawatu's Jamie Booth, a member of the Hurricanes wider training squad in 2015, who gets a chance to impress at halfback with Jackson Garden-Bachop starting outside him.

One of the stand-outs for the Hurricanes last season, Matt Proctor, returns from injury and will start at centre while Ben Lam and Jonah Lowe start on either wing.

Boyd said the squad had enjoyed a productive few days in Gisborne where they got to further fine tune some of the work they hope to put in place over the season while they also enjoyed the hospitality of plenty of people in Poverty Bay who were keen to show their support.

He felt the pre-season match against the defending champion Crusaders in the Hurricanes heartland of Waverley had been really beneficial last year and he hoped they would get the same sort of reward from the match in Greymouth.

"It's a great opportunity for a lot of boys in the squad to move from the training field and into a game day situation against real quality opposition," he said.

"We're really pleased with how the squad has come together, they've worked really hard over the last few weeks and are keen to get the season moving forward."

There will be plenty of interest in the performances of some of the players when they are afforded a chance off the bench, including new recruit Ihaia West who has shifted south from the Blues.

Kick-off in Greymouth is 5.30pm.

The Hurricanes squad to meet the Crusaders is:
15 Trent Renata
14 Jonah Lowe
13 Matt Proctor
12 Peter Umaga-Jensen
11 Ben Lam
10 Jackson Garden-Bachop
9 Jamie Booth
8 Gareth Evans
7 Brayden lose
6 Brad Shields
5 James Blackwell
4 Sam Lousi
3 Alex Fidow
2 Ricky Riccitelli
1 Toby Smith
Reserves; James O'Rielly, Chris Eves, Tolu Fahamokioa, Ben May, Murray Douglas, Will Mangos, Liam Mitchell, Sam Henwood, Finlay Christie, Carlos Price, Ihaia West, Wes Goosen, Jason Emery, Vince Also, Julian Savea, Chase Tiatia, Fraser Armstrong.