Stormers unchanged for Reds

Cape Town - The Stormers have given the side which defeated the Sharks last week a vote of confidence by naming an unchanged match-day squad to face the Reds in a Vodacom Super Rugby clash at Newlands on Saturday.

A few players like Francois Louw (flank), Peter Grant (flyhalf) and Rynhardt Elstadt (lock) did not train on Wednesday but Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said that the players were rested because of injury niggles.

"With an unchanged side we are getting the continuity that we would like to have," said Coetzee.

"The players who didn't training were being rested and there's nothing serious about them."

Stormers captain Schalk Burger said the Reds posed a vastly different challenge than their opponents to date.

"The Reds seem to have a far more constructive way of playing, and somewhat different than what we've come up against this season," said Burger.

"They have a few plays, especially off No 9 and No 10 that will cause our defence some problems, and we'll have to be alert to that."

The Stormers will be looking to better the franchise record for the most consecutive victories on Saturday.

The 1999 side, captained by former Springbok loosie Bob Skinstad, set the benchmark with six consecutive wins.

To date this season the Stormers have raked in six wins after their victories over the Lions (19-16), Cheetahs (21-15), Highlanders (18-6), Bulls (23-13), Western Force (51-16) and the Sharks (16-6).

The Reds currently head up the Australian Super Rugby conference log and are on a four-match winning streak.

Teams

Stormers:
15 Gio Aplon, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw

Substitutes: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Nick Koster, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Gary van Aswegen, 22 Juan de Jongh

Reds:
TBA