Stormers Back Home To Continue Form Against Dragons
The DHL Stormers were given a major boost as backline stars Seabelo Senatla and Dan du Plessis make their return from injury for the clash against Dragons RFC at DHL Stadium on Sunday.
The second-place DHL Stormers take on the fourteenth-place Welsh side in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter on Sunday before the DHL Stormers XXIII face the Seattle Seawolves in a friendly.
Senatla is on the right wing and will link up with fullback Damian Willemse, whose place at inside centre has been taken by Du Plessis. Du Plessis will partner with captain Ruhan Nel in the middle of the park while Leolin Zas continues at left wing.
The only other change to the backline sees Imad Khan start at scrum-half. Stefan Ungerer and Wandisile Simelane are the two backs on the replacements bench.
Evan Roos returns from the injury that kept him out of action last week against the Vodacom Bulls, so Marcel Theunissen shifts to the flank with Ben-Jason Dixon set to make an impact in the second half.
Deon Fourie earns his second successive start to round off the loose forward trio. JD Schickerling and Adre Smith will start as the lock pairing.
There are two changes to the front row, with Vernon Matongo and JJ Kotzé in the starting line-up this week – replacing Andre-Hugo Venter and Ntuthuko Mchunu – with both moving to the bench.
Sazi Sande, Paul de Villiers, and Hacjivah Dayimani complete the pack of forwards on the bench.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that it is vital for his team to back up their win in Pretoria last week with a strong performance at home.
The Stormers return home after three consecutive games away, where they played the Sharks at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, the Lions at Ellis Park, and the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
“We are back at DHL Stadium this week and want to make that count. Last week’s performance was very encouraging, but we need to build on that and keep moving forward.
“We have got some quality players coming back into the mix, and we are excited to see how some of the combinations go in what should be a tough game against a good Dragons side,” he said.
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 JJ Kotzé, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Paul de Villiers, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
