Stormers show impressive depth heading into Cardiff match

The Stormers showed the impressive depth that they are building up at the union by making 10 changes to the team that beat Dragons last weekend, but still named a very strong side to face Cardiff in their United Rugby Championship (URC) match at the Cape Town Stadium.

Frontline stars such as Evan Roos, Warrick Gelant and Ruben van Heerden have been completely rested for Friday night’s match which kicks off at 7pm, while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will play off the bench.

In their place Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok returns from injury to slot back into the number 10 jersey, lock JD Schickerling makes his first start after recently returning from injury and Dan du Plessis comes back in at inside centre, with Damian Willemse shifting to fullback.

Marcell Theunissen, who enjoyed a top game at flank against the Dragons, shifts to eighthman, as Louw Nel comes in on the side of the scrum after playing off the bench last weekend.

Suleiman Hartzenberg is also back in the starting line-up, for his 50^th Stormers appearance at just 21-years-old, coming in for Seabelo Senatla who put in a superb try scoring shift against Dragons.

Another returner is tighthead prop Neethling Fouche, who missed the last three games through suspension after receiving a red card against Ulster in March, with him back after finishing tackle school, and he will want to make his presence felt.

Need for changes

Speaking at the team announcement on Thursday afternoon, Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson explained the thinking behind the need to make so many changes for the match.

“Despite the amount of changes in the team it didn’t take us too long to choose. There were a couple of imperatives, like what we need to win this week and the intensity that we need in the match,” said Dobson.

“Then there are a few guys (such as Ben Loader and Joseph Dweba) who have put a lot into this union, but won’t play again in this stadium, at least not in our colours. So there is a nod to that.

“Lastly our next match is a playoff, some guys have one or two niggles, and guys like Evan Roos, Ali Vermaak and Warrick Gelant are players we can’t afford to be without in the playoff.

“So the first thing was we had to name a team that could win this week, and then the other factors of protecting some guys and nodding to some guys that are leaving came in.”