Stormers name 30-man squad for Lions clash

Cape Town - Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has named a 30-man squad for a pre-season friendly against the Lions at Newlands on Saturday. 

This will be the final pre-season run out for the Cape based franchise before their opening Super Rugby encounter against the Bulls at the same venue on February 25. 

The Stormers have already played two friendlies this season, beating the Cheetahs 43-7 in Zimbabwe and the SWD Eagles 57-14 in George.

According the Stormers website, Fleck says his players are excited to have their first run out at home. 

“It is always special to play at Newlands and after a tough pre-season the players are excited to play in front of our fans,” said Fleck.

Fleck believes that a match against the Lions, last year's losing Super Rugby finalists, will give a great indication of the where his team sit in terms of preparation for the upcoming season. 

“We have worked hard over the past couple of months, so we want to put that into practice against the Lions who were one of the form teams in the competition last year.

“It will be important for us to look at certain combinations and make sure that everyone has some good gametime under their belts before the season gets underway,” he said.

The match kicks off at 15:00.

Teams

Stormers squad

Juarno Augustus, Nizaam Carr, Jaco Coetzee, Juan de Jongh, Dan du Plessis, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Rob du Preez, Dewaldt Duvenage, Rynhardt Elstadt, JC Janse van Rensburg, Cheslin Kolbe, Siya Kolisi, Dan Kriel, Dillyn Leyds, Wilco Louw, Frans Malherbe, SP Marais, Bongi Mbonambi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Caylib Oosthuizen, Ramone Samuels, JD Shickerling, Chris van Zyl, Jano Vermaak, EW Viljoen, Cobus Wiese, Damian Willemse, Eduard Zandberg, Leolin Zas.

Lions

15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Howard Mnisi, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies (captain), 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Ruan Ackermann, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Franco Mostert, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Andries Ferreira, 20 Lourens Erasmus, 21 Robert Kruger, 22 Jaco Kriel, 23 Victor Sekekete, 24 Dillon Smit, 25 Andries Coetzee, 26 Harold Vorster, 27 Antony Volmink, 28 Jacques Nel, 29 Sylvian Mahuza