Joseph Dweba and Willie Engelbrecht will earn their 50th DHL Stormers caps as Seabelo Senatla makes his comeback in Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup clash with Toulon in Gqeberha.
Prop Neethling Fouche will captain the Stormers in place of the injured Dan du Plessis – whose place at inside centre is filled by his cousin Jean-Luc – for the round 1 match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Hooker Dweba packs down in the front row with Fouche and Ali Vermaak. Engelbrecht starts at the back of the scrum, with flankers Keke Morabe and Ben-Jason Dixon completing the loose trio.
Paul de Wet will partner Manie Libbok at halfback, with Senatla set to complete his long-awaited return from the bench.
Director of rugby John Dobson said that his team is looking forward to what should be a special occasion in Gqeberha.
“The Eastern Cape is one of the heartlands of rugby in South Africa, so we are very excited to be bringing Investec Champions Cup action to the people,” he said.
“We know that we will get passionate support from the locals and will be looking to harness that to make a positive start to the tournament.
“Toulon have a great pedigree in this competition and we want to rise to the challenge.”
DHL Stormers – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Keke Morabe, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche (c), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Seabelo Senatla.
Photo: Roberto Bregani/Gallo Images
