Bulls switch things up, Stormers name strong side for Champions Cup

The Bulls named a good mixture of frontline starters and back-up players for their Champions Cup clash against Lyon in France, while the Stormers named a full strength side for their match against double defending champs La Rochelle in Cape Town on Saturday.

The Bulls have made a number of changes to the team that beat Saracens 27-16 in their Champions Cup opener at Loftus last weekend, but have named enough star power to have a good crack at picking up their second win of the competition against hosts Lyon (kick-off 7:30pm).

ALSO READ: Stormers fired up for return to the Cape Town Stadium

Exciting outside back and former Edinburgh stalwart Henry Immelman makes his debut for the Bulls at right wing, while Marcell Coetzee, who returned from suspension off the bench in their Champions Cup win over Saracens last weekend, starts at eighthman and will captain the side.

Sergeal Petersen will line-up on the left wing, Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe will combine as the centre pairing for the day and Devon Williams will continue his impressive start at the Bulls as the starting fullback.

Halfback duo

Zak Burger and Chris Smith will be the halfback to link the backline to a forward pack that will feature Simphiwe Matanzima, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Mornay Smith in the front row.

Behind them will be lock duo, Deon Slabbert and Janko Swanepoel flanked by Marco van Staden at blindside and Mpilo Gumede on the openside.

Speaking about the interesting team named for the game, Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White said:  

“This is a squad that has the experience with players who have played a lot of rugby together and against some of these big European clubs. I think we can be competitive and there is a lot of experience that I can fall back on.”

On the debut of Immelman White added: “I rate him a lot, I was the one who got him to Montpellier as a 20-year-old and tried really hard to get him to join us the year he joined Edinburgh but luckily enough we got him now as a 28-year-old seasoned pro who can play 13, 14 and 15. So he is going to offer us a lot going forward.”

Bulls XV: Devon Williams, Henry Immelman, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Sergeal Petersen, Chris Smith, Zak Burger, Marcell Coetzee, Mpilo Gumede, Marco van Staden, Janko Swanepoel, Deon Slabbert, Mornay Smith, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima

Bench: 16. Tiaan Lange, 17. Dylan Smith, 18. Khutha Mchunu, 19. JF van Heerden, 20. Merwe Olivier, 21. Bernard van der Linde, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. Sebastian de Klerk

Full strength Stormers

For the Stormers, after their second string side went down in their Champions Cup opener 35-26 to Leicester Tigers in England, they have reverted to their full strength team for their huge home clash against French giants La Rochelle at the Cape Town Stadium (kick-off 3pm).

The only survivor from the starting 15 that lined up against Leicester is wing Ben Loader, however he has switched from the left to the right for the game.

Most of the Stormers Bok World Cup winners are back, with flank Deon Fourie captaining the side, while Damian Willemse plays at inside centre and Manie Libbok takes his regular spot at flyhalf.

Other Bok players in the mix for the hosts include fullback Warrick Gelant, scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, eighthman Evan Roos and hooker Joseph Dweba.

On La Rochelle’s front they also named a virtually full strength team featuring former Stormers star Dillyn Leyds, however another former Stormer in Raymond Rhule was one of three key players missing from their line-up.

The match is also the Stormers first home game at the resurfaced Cape Town Stadium, with their previous two home games so far this season held in Stellenbosch, and coach John Dobson admitted that they were very excited to be back in their fortress.

“This is our first game this season at Cape Town Stadium and we are up against the defending champions in the Champions Cup, so excitement levels are high,” said Dobson.

“This team has been preparing for this game since last week, so hopefully we can reward our fans with a good performance. We know we will have to be at our best to get the result we need.”

Stormers XV: Warrick Gelant, Ben Loader, Ruhan Nel, Damian Willemse, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies, Evan Roos, Hacjivah Dayimani, Deon Fourie (c), Ruben van Heerden, Adre Smith, Neethling Fouche, Joseph Dweba, Ali Vermaak.

Bench: Andre-Hugo Venter, Sti Sithole, Brok Harris, Connor Evans, Ben-Jason Dixon, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Wet, Courtnall Skosan.