Stormers boss John Dobson has made several changes to his backline for Saturday’s round 13 Vodacom URC match against Welsh outfit Scarlets in Llanelli.
Herschel Jantjies and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu start as the halfbacks in place of the injured Stefan Ungerer (groin) and Jurie Matthee, who is in line to feature off the wood after a solid outing at 10 in the win against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus two weeks ago.
Returning after a four-month injury lay-off, Damian Willemse comes in at fullback with fellow Springbok world champion Warrick Gelant shifting to the bench.
Up front, Marcel Theunissen starts at blindside flank with Bok Ben-Jason Dixon ruled out due to wrist surgery, while Frans Malherbe is back at tighthead for Neethling Fouche, who has remained in Cape Town for the birth of his second child.
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Veteran scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage and prop Sazi Sandi join Gelant and Matthee on a 5-3 bench.
The Stormers, in 12th place on the table, are tied with 10th-placed Scarlets on 28 log points. A victory for either team could see them leap into the top half of the standings, depending on other results this week.
While each of the teams have five wins this season, the Stormers have had disappointing results on the road, losing three of four away matches.
“It is obviously fantastic to have players of Sacha and Damian’s quality back in the group and we have made good use of the break to prepare for this game,” Dobson told the club’s official website.
“Scarlets have been impressive this season and we know that it will have to be an 80-minute performance to get the result that we need from this one.”
STORMERS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Bench: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Warrick Gelant.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
