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De Allende starts in midfield for Stormers

Cape Town - Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has named his team for Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Reds at Newlands (15:00 kick-off).

Scrumhalf Nic Groom will play his 50th Super Rugby game for the Stormers. The 26-year-old takes his place in a Stormers starting line-up which features five changes and a positional switch for the clash.

Damian de Allende will make his first start of the season at inside centre, and will partner Johnny Kotze in midfield after co-captain Juan de Jongh was ruled out due to a delayed concussion.

Frans Malherbe returns to the starting XV to lead the side in one of four rotational changes to the forward pack.

He is joined by Oli Kebble in the front row, with Vincent Koch and JC Janse van Rensburg named on the bench.

Rynhardt Elstadt makes his first start of the season at lock, with JD Schickerling set to make an impact from the bench, whilst in the loose trio Schalk Burger makes way for Siya Kolisi, with Nizaam Carr moving to No 8.

Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck said that the team is looking forward to playing in front of their faithful fans at Newlands.

“Our philosophy this season is to keep growing and learning from our experiences, and it is important that we make another step up against a competitive Reds side,” Fleck told the Stormers’ official website.

“It is great to be back home at Newlands, and the team is focused on delivering a worthy performance,” he said.

Teams:

Stormers

15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Frans Malherbe (captain), 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble

Substitutes: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Brandon Thomson

Reds

15 Karmichael Hunt, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Anthony Fainga'a, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Nick Frisby, 8 Curtis Browning, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Ben Matwijow, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Andrew Ready, 1 James Slipper (captain)

Substitutes: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Sef Fa'agase, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Cadeyrn Neville, 20 Michael Gunn, 21 James Tuttle, 22 Duncan Paia’aua, 23 Ayumu Goromaru

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