Fouche leads DHL Stormers in Stellenbosch
Tighthead prop Neethling Fouche will captain the DHL Stormers in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter with Scarlets in Stellenbosch.
The former Maties front row forward will lead the DHL Stormers out at Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday in the absence of regular captain Salmaan Moerat, who has been ruled out with a chest injury.
The match against the Welsh side kicks off at 16h00, with gates open at 14h00 and tickets on sale from Ticketpro from just R60.
Fouche is joined in the front row by experienced loosehead Ali Vermaak, while Adre Smith steps up to partner Ruben van Heerden at lock.
The only change to the loose trio sees Hacjivah Dayimani come into the starting line-up, while openside flank Nama Xaba makes his return on the replacements bench.
Paul de Wet starts at scrumhalf this week in a rotation with Herschel Jantjies, who will make an impact in the second half.
The only other change to the backline sees wing Ben Loader make his first start, with Courtnall Skosan set to make his DHL Stormers debut from the replacements bench.
DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that his side want to make the most of the chance to play at home before they leave on a four-week tour.
“We have a good record in Stellenbosch, with three wins from three there in the last two seasons and we want to take some momentum with us on our tour up north.
“There are some exciting players that have come into the starting line-up this week, but we have largely kept the core of the team together, so hopefully we can see an improvement on last week’s performance.
“We are looking forward to playing in front of our fans in what is a rugby-mad town, it should be a great day out in Stellenbosch,” he said.
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Courtnall Skosan.
