Cape Town - Rynhardt Elstadt will earn his 50th Stormers cap if he comes off the bench in their Super Rugby clash with the Western Force in Perth on Saturday (kick-off 13:55 SA time).
The hard-working utility forward, who is equally at home at flank or lock, first featured for the Stormers since 2011 and has always offered an imposing physical presence.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has had to make two injury-enforced changes to the starting XV that lined up against the Rebels in Melbourne last week, with Sikhumbuzo Notshe replacing the injured Nizaam Carr on the flank whilst Alistair Vermaak starts at loosehead prop as Oli Kebble is sidelined with a knee injury.
As a result prop Wilco Louw and utility back Huw Jones come onto the replacements bench which features five forwards and three backs.
Fleck paid tribute to Elstadt, who has been a stalwart of the Stormers set-up for some time.
“Rynhardt is a great team man, and the fact that he is earning his 50th cap on Saturday despite the injury setbacks he has had shows the sort of determined player he is,” he said.
The Stormers coach wants to see his team build on their 57-31 victory against the Rebels and finish their Australian tour with a convincing performance.
“It is vital that we continue to build momentum as a team, so our focus is on making another step up and making it two wins from two games on our tour,” he said.
Teams:
Force
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Marcel Brache, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Luke Morahan (captain), 10 Jono Lance, 9 Ryan Louwrens, 8 Angus Cottrell, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Richard Hardwick, 5 Rory Walton, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Guy Millar, 2 Harry Scoble, 1 Pek Cowan
Substitutes: 16 Anaru Rangi, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Peter Grant, 23 Semisi Masirewa
Stormers
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Daniel du Plessis, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Schalk Burger (captain), 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Substitutes: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, JP Smith, 18 17 Wilco Louw, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Scott van Breda