Neethling Fouche takes charge of rejigged Stormers

The Stormers are in eighth position in the United Rugby Championship playoffs log, with only five rounds remaining.

March 27, 2025

SA Rugby Magazine 2 minutes read

Damian Willemse starts in a new-look Stormers line-up, skippered by Neethling Fouche, against Ulster in Friday night’s round 14 Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Belfast.

Fouche comes in for tighthead prop Frans Malherbe, who is being rested with regular skipper Salmaan Moerat after last week’s victory over Scarlets.

Connor Evans will start in the second row, while the only other change to the pack sees flanker Dave Ewers replace Deon Fourie, who has been ruled out due to head injury assessment protocols.

Willemse will wear the No 15 jersey, and Warrick Gelant sits out. The other two changes to the backline see Suleiman Hartzenberg start at outside centre and veteran scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage replacing Herschel Jantjies in the run-on XV.

Paul de Wet is set to make an impact off the bench alongside Jurie Matthee, Wandisile Simelane, Andre-Hugo Venter, Brok Harris, Sazi Sandi, Gary Porter and Willie Engelbrecht.

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With five rounds remaining in the race to the United Rugby Championship playoffs, the log is tightly congested. The Stormers moved into eighth after their bonus-point win at Parc y Scarlets, but Ulster are just one point behind the Capetonians in ninth.

John Dobson’s men have won three of their last four outings against Ulster, although all of them were at home, and will want to avenge a 35-5 defeat the last time the teams crossed swords at Kingspan Stadium.

Dobson said that his team is keen to build on the momentum gained from their two consecutive wins away from home.

“After winning at Loftus Versfeld and then in Llanelli last week, we know that it will be crucial to carry that momentum into our run of four home matches,” he said.

“It is always a fierce contest against Ulster and we know that we will have to be on our game for the full 80 minutes to get the result we want.”

Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Neethling Fouche (c), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Bench: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Wandisile Simelane.

Your DHL Stormers team to take on Ulster in Belfast on Friday night.

Full team announcement https://t.co/dZ8zW5I0CG #ULSvSTO #iamastormer @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/0ERAraAgbi

— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) March 27, 2025