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Fourie leads bolstered Stormers team against French giants

By @rugby365com
Friday 15 Dec 2023

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Stormers head coach John Dobson has revealed his team to face Stade Rochelais in their Champions Cup Round Two clash at Cape Town Stadium.

Experienced loose forward Deon Fourie will lead the team against the two-time champions on Saturday.

Wing Ben Loader is the only player in the starting line-up that featured against Leicester Tigers last week, given the six-day turnaround between matches on different continents.

Loader is joined by Leolin Zas and Warrick Gelant in a potent back three, while Ruhan Nel and Damian Willemse will link up in midfield.

Springboks Manie Libbok and Herschel Jantjies form the halfback pairing, while Paul de Wet and Courtnall Skosan are the backs on the replacements bench.

Captain Fourie is joined by Evan Roos and Hacjivah Dayimani in the loose trio, while both Ben-Jason Dixon and Marcel Theunissen will be ready to make an impact in the second half.

Ruben van Heerden and Adre Smith are in the second row, with Connor Evans among the replacements and up front, props Neethling Fouche and Ali Vermaak start either side of hooker Joseph Dweba.

Sti Sithole, Brok Harris and Andre-Hugo Venter will be on the replacements bench.

"This is our first game this season at Cape Town Stadium and we are up against the defending champions in the Champions Cup, so excitement levels are high.

"This team has been preparing for this game since last week, so hopefully we can reward our fans with a good performance. We know we will have to be at our best to get the result we need," he said.

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.

Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Courtnall Skosan.

Date: Saturday, December 16

Venue: Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town

Kick-off: 15.00 (14.00 CET; 13.00 GMT)

Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)

Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Simon Harding (England)

TMO: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

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