Stormers tweak side for London Irish
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Stormers have opted for experience blended with youth for their Champions Cup clash with London Irish at on Sunday at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Experienced centre Ruhan Nel makes a welcome return while young Connor Evans will make his debut in this clash.
There are a trio of players returning in the backline among the four changes to John Dobson’s side.
Two changes are amongst the forwards and two in the backline, along with a few positional switches, for the return clash with the English Premiership outfit.
Evans makes his first start for the Stormers, while in the loose trio Junior Pokomela is at blindside flank.
In the backline, Angelo Davids comes in for the injured Leolin Zas and a fit-again Ruhan Nel joins Dan du Plessis in midfield, with Damian Willemse at fullback.
Hooker Andre-Hugo Venter, prop Ali Vermaak, scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will all get an opportunity from a replacements bench which also includes utility forward Simon Miller, who will make his DHL Stormers debut when he comes on.
Head Coach John Dobson said that his team will need to be at their best to get what would be a valuable away win.
“There are not many team winning away from home in this competition, so we know that it will take our best on Sunday.
“There has been some hard work put in on the training ground this week, so hopefully we will see that pay off come Sunday,” he said.
Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Simon Miller, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Date: Sunday, 15 January
Venue: Gtech Community Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 (13:00 GMT)
Referee: MLudovic Cayre (France)
Assistant Referees: Pierre-Baptiste Nuchy (France) Assis Ref 2: Stéphane Crapoix (France)
TMO: Eric Briquet-Campin (France)