Ruben van Heerden reaches his 50th cap for the Stormers as part of a re-jigged team for Saturday’s Vodacom URC clash against Connacht at Cape Town Stadium.
Lock Van Heerden starts in a pack that features four changes from the lineup that went down to Ulster in round 14 of the competition in Belfast at the end of last month.
The Stormers, in 10th on the URC standings, return from a two-week break needing to bank points in their four-match run at home to secure a playoff spot.
There are two changes to the front row, with hooker Andre-Hugo Venter replacing fellow Springbok Joseph Dweba and Sazi Sandi at tighthead prop in place of the suspended Neethling Fouche, with Frans Malherbe unavailable due to an undisclosed injury.
Captain Salmaan Moerat returns from a foot injury alongside Van Heerden, while Paul de Villiers makes his first start at openside flanker.
In the backline, fullback Warrick Gelant and winger Seabelo Senatla slot back after stints on the sidelines, and Damian Willemse shifts to the midfield where he will partner Dan du Plessis. At No 9, Stefan Ungerer replaces veteran scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage, who misses out with Dweba.
ALSO: Sacha to keep playing on the edge
The bench features a fit-again JD Schickerling with JJ Kotze, Brok Harris, Deon Fourie, Louw Nel, Paul de Wet and Ben Loader. Also, loosehead prop Vernon Matongo is in line to make his first URC appearance.
With four rounds remaining in the race to the playoffs, the Stormers are only two points ahead of Connacht (13th) on the log. The Irish visitors arrived in the Republic for a two-match tour on the back of an EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final exit, after losing to Racing 92 last week.
John Dobson’s men have won both of their home URC matches against Connacht (38-15 in 2022 and 43-25 in the 2023 semi-final) as well as their previous clash in Galway last season (16-12).
“It has been more than two months since we played at home and we are really excited to see what this team can do on Saturday,” the Stormers director of rugby said.
“We have got some key players back in the mix and the build-up has been good. We understand just how important this run of games is in the context of our season and will be going all-out to make our supporters proud.”
STORMERS – 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 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 Louw Nel, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Ben Loader.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
