Stormers Ring Changes For Revenge Clash Against The Sharks
Director of rugby John Dobson has made several changes to the Stormers’ matchday squad for the Vodacom URC encounter with the Sharks in Durban on Saturday as they look to exact revenge for their first defeat last weekend.
The Stormers will be looking to head into a four-week break with some winning momentum as they take on the Durban-based outfit at Hollywoodbets Kings Park at 17h00 on Saturday.
Damian Willemse lines up at fullback this week instead of Warrick Gelant, with Jonathan Roche at inside centre and Dylan Maart on the right wing in the three changes to the starting backline.
Dobson has opted for a powerful 5-3 bench with Stefan Ungerer, Jurie Matthee, and Warrick Gelant as the backs set to make an impact from the replacements bench in the second half.
The Springbok combination of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach will start at half-back.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu has a one-and-one record in his two games as captain and will want to make sure that stat swings in his favour by the end of the weekend.
In the front row, Oli Kebble starts at loosehead prop alongside Andre-Hugo Venter and Neethling Fouché, while there is an all-new lock pairing of Ruben van Heerden and a return for Adré Smith.
Smith makes a welcome return after he recovered following an injury against the Bulls, after a pitch-induced injury where he split his knee open on a bare patch attributed to the poor condition of the pitch at the DHL Stadium.
In the loose trio, Evan Roos returns at the back of the scrum, partnering Ben-Jason Dixon and Paul de Villiers.
Props Ntuthuko Mchunu, Zachary Porthen, and lock JD Schickerling are among the replacements this week.
Marcel Theunissen is the back row cover from the bench with the ability to also cover lock should the need arise.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that his team will be going all-out to take an away win in the upcoming break.
“Playing back-to-back derbies against the same opposition is a fairly unique situation, and we are desperate to put in a more convincing performance than we managed at home last week.
“We have been boosted by the return from injury of some key players, and you can be sure that all 23 will be going out there to show what it means to play in our jersey for our fans,” he said.
The Stormers relinquished top spot in the URC table – a position they have held all season and will be hoping to head into the break at the top of the mountain once again.
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (captain), 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Oli Kebble.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Warrick Gelant.
