Cape Town - Daniel du Plessis will make his Stormers debut in the Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday.
The talented young midfielder, who has been in excellent form for Western Province, comes into the team at outside centre with Juan de Jongh who is sidelined with a back strain, while Johnny Kotze moves to the replacements bench in place of the injured Huw Jones.
In the forward pack Sikhumbuzo Notshe will start at No 8 in place of Schalk Burger who has not recovered from a foot injury, with JD Schickerling providing lock cover from the bench.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck said that his team is fully focused on returning to winning ways back on home turf at Newlands.
“The last few weeks have been quite frustrating for us, so we are focused on delivering a convincing performance for our faithful supporters at Newlands.
“We have worked very hard this week and the players are determined to show what we are capable of when we get it right,” he said.
Saturday is the International Day of Action for Women’s Health, and the Stormers will be wearing pink armbands in support of PinkDrive to raise awareness of Breast Cancer.
The curtain-raiser at Newlands between Western Province and Griquas will kick-off at 12:00 and not 12:15 as originally scheduled.
Teams:
Stormers
15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Daniel du Plessis, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe (captain), 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble
Substitutes: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Johnny Kotze
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais
Substitutes: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Henco Venter, 20 Neill Jordaan, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Nico Lee