Injury has robbed Sitiveni Sivivatu of a chance to appear in the Chiefs' first ever Super 14 final.
The wing has been ruled out of the clash with the Bulls in Pretoria due to a dislocated shoulder he suffered late in the thrilling 14-10 semi-final win against the Hurricanes on Friday night.
The injury also casts doubt on his availability for New Zealand in its upcoming June Tests against France and Italy.
But impressive centre Richard Kahui, who has missed the last two games with a troublesome calf injury, has been included in the 24-man squad to travel to South Africa.
Loose forward Sione Lauaki, who scored his side's first try on Friday but left the field in the second half after taking a knock to the head and neck area, has also been included.
His inclusion will be welcome news considering the size and strength of the Bulls forwards pack the Chiefs will face at Loftus Versfeld.
Prop Nathan White has also been brought in as a replacement for Ben May who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the last round-robin match against the Brumbies.
Sivivatu, whose blistering run set up Mils Muliaina's match-winning try on Friday, has endured a tough time with injury this season.
After featuring strongly in six of the seven opening matches, he missed four weeks with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the three-match tour of South Africa.
But he returned in the penultimate round of the regular season to link up again with his captain and full-back Muliaina and fellow wing Lelia Masaga against the Hurricanes.
Apart from three weeks early in the competition when he had a back injury, Muliaina has been ever present in the back three for the Chiefs this year and has been in outstanding form.
The combination between Muliaina, Sivivatu and Masaga has received huge plaudits this season, particularly in their thumping wins against the Blues and Reds.
Even when the injured Sivivatu and Masaga missed the matches in South Africa and Dwayne Sweeney, Tim Mikkelson and Sosene Anesi stepped in, the game plan of moving the ball around and attacking out wide produced results.
In recent weeks the defensive effort and dominance of the forwards has been the key and coach Ian Foster said the team's success was due to a 15-man effort, not just the fleet-footed back three.
"The last three or four weeks have been great for us because we've been able to build a lot of confidence through our defence, build a lot of confidence through the play of our forwards and our physicality," he said.
"There's a lot made of our back three and our width game but it starts up front."
"It starts from a pack that I think has grown through this year and hasn't got a lot of accolades but actually deserves a few. They've got a massive challenge ahead of them on Saturday."
The Chiefs' only loss in their past 11 games came at the hands of the Bulls in Pretoria.
In a bruising encounter the New Zealanders were out-scored by three tries to two but claimed a vital bonus point thanks to Kahui's try which Stephen Donald converted.
The Bulls game plan has changed little throughout the season with methodical play that centres around playing field position and taking points by any means possible.
In their 36-23 semi-final win against the Crusaders, fly-half Morne Steyn slotted