De Wet reaches DHL Stormers 50 in Stellenbosch

Scrumhalf Paul de Wet will play his 50th match for the DHL Stormers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter with Benetton in Stellenbosch on Friday.

There are a number of changes to the DHL Stormers team for the final match of the regular season, which kicks off at 18h30 on Friday at the Danie Craven Stadium.

Clayton Blommetjies is at fullback and is joined in the back three by Angelo Davids, with Damian Willemse moving to inside centre to partner Dan du Plessis in midfield and Ruhan Nel among the replacements in a rotational switch.

Having featured off the replacements bench last week, Evan Roos starts at No.8, with Hacjivah Dayimani moving to blindside flank.

There are two changes to the front row, with prop Neethling Fouche and hooker JJ Kotze coming into the starting line-up.

DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that it was important to ensure that everyone in the squad has enough gametime under the belt ahead of the play-offs.

“We have made a few rotational changes to make sure that everyone will be ready to perform in the knock-out phase of the competition.

“We want to raise our game and put in a confidence-building performance to take some momentum forward,” he said.

DHL Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Ruhan Nel.