Burger benched for Jaguares tussle

Cape Town - There are four changes to the Stormers team to face the Jaguares in their Super Rugby encounter in Buenos Aires on Saturday (kick-off 23:40 SA time). 

Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has made three changes and a positional switch to the forward pack that started in the 31-11 victory against the Brumbies last week, while there is one injury-enforced change to the backline.

In the front row, hooker Scarra Ntubeni makes his first start of the season, with Bongi Mbonambi moving to the replacements bench. 

Lock JD Schickerling will make his Stormers starting debut in place of Pieter-Steph du Toit who is being rested and did not travel to Argentina, with Jan de Klerk in line to earn his second Stormers cap from the bench.

Flank Sikhumbuzo Notshe comes back into the starting line-up, with the experienced Schalk Burger set to make an impact from the replacements bench and Nizaam Carr shifting back to No 8. 

In the backline, Leolin Zas gets another opportunity to start after Dillyn Leyds suffered a knee injury in training on Tuesday which ruled him out of the trip to Argentina, which means that Huw Jones comes back into the match-day squad.

Fleck said that the team has embraced the challenge of being the first Stormers team to play a Super Rugby match in Argentina. 

“It is very exciting for us to be here, and we are determined to improve on our performance against the Brumbies last week against a Jaguares outfit who will be very tough to beat at home,” Fleck told the Stormers’ official website.

“We are a team that enjoys touring together, and we are excited to be the first Stormers side to play a Super Rugby match in South America, so we just want to embrace the occasion,” he said. 

Teams:

Jaguares

TBA

Stormers

15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Juan de Jongh (co-captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe (co-captain), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Huw Jones