Director of rugby John Dobson makes one change to the Stormers starting XV to face fellow Vodacom URC playoff challengers Benetton in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Stormers, facing the Italians at Cape Town Stadium for the first time, are eighth on the table and need a win to overtake fifth-placed Benetton. The Capetonians claimed a bonus-point win against Connacht last week, while Benetton travelled to the Mother City on a high after mauling the Lions at Ellis Park.
MORE: Boogey shifts gears for Benetton
Leolin Zas makes his return on the left wing for the Stormers in place of Suleiman Hartzenberg, who is in line to feature off a bench that includes scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies and utility forward Connor Evans, with Paul de Wet and the injured Deon Fourie falling out of the matchday squad.
Dobson said that it was important to keep continuity in selection for what is a vital match in the context of the season.
“We know that we will have to be much better this week than we were last week, so we wanted settled combinations in place,” he added. “There was a lot we did right against Connacht and the challenge will be to ensure all aspects of our game are firing against what is a very tough Benetton side.”
STORMERS – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak
Bench: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Brok Harris, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Connor Evans, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg.
Just one change to the starting line-up for our @Vodacom #URC Kids Round clash with Benetton.
📢 Full team announcement https://t.co/9GYE6H1FMS
🎟️ Tickets https://t.co/bPUwzpiLon#STOvBEN #iamastormer pic.twitter.com/CwveXN5cLb— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) April 25, 2025
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
