Stormers Stacked With 11 Boks & Debutant Pead For Sharks Clash
Seven Springboks will make their first appearances for the DHL Stormers this season when they face the Hollywoodbets Sharks in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
Scrumhalf Haashim Pead is set to make his DHL Stormers debut off the replacements bench in a matchday squad featuring 11 Springboks in total.
The DHL Stormers will run out in their new black kit — a throwback to the iconic 1999 Men in Black campaign — with kick-off scheduled for 16:00 on Saturday. Tickets are available from stormers.co.za.
There are three changes to the backline, with Damian Willemse starting at fullback and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu linking up with Cobus Reinach at halfback. Pead and Wandisile Simelane are the two backs among the replacements.
In the front row, Wilco Louw is set to earn his first DHL Stormers cap since 2020, while Deon Fourie provides hooker cover alongside props Neethling Fouché and Vernon Matongo on the bench.
Lock Adré Smith comes into the starting line-up for the first time this season, while Paul de Villiers returns to the loose trio, with Siya Kolisi moving to blindside flank. Evan Roos and Riley Norton feature among the replacements and are certain to add plenty of momentum in the second half.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said the first home match of the season at DHL Stadium promises to be a classic.
“It is fantastic to be able to name a team like this which is full of exceptional talents, from Deon Fourie with 141 DHL Stormers caps through to Haashim Pead, who makes his first appearance for us.
“It has been really encouraging to see the way the players returning from national duty have stepped up this week and added immensely to our preparations. It was a tough team to select, with many quality players missing out.
“This weekend we also play our first match in the new Men in Black kit, which is a great nod to our past and something which resonates deeply with our fans.
“It is going to be a fantastic occasion at DHL Stadium on Saturday, beyond the rugby, which will be typically intense. We hope that our fans come out in their numbers to enjoy every moment with us,” he said.
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Riley Norton, 20 Connor Evans, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
