Evan Roos will make his first start since returning from injury when the DHL Stormers take on Benetton in Stellenbosch on Friday.
There are a number of changes to the Stormers team for the final match of the regular season, which kicks off at 6.30pm on Friday at the Danie Craven Stadium.
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Clayton Blommetjies is at fullback and is joined in the back three by Angelo Davids, with Damian Willemse moving to inside centre to partner Dan du Plessis in midfield and Ruhan Nel among the replacements in a rotational switch.
Having featured off the replacements bench last week, Evan Roos starts at No 8, with Hacjivah Dayimani moving to blindside flank.
There are two changes to the front row, with prop Neethling Fouche and hooker JJ Kotze coming into the starting line-up.
Scrumhalf Paul de Wet will play his 50th match for the Stormers.
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John Dobson said that it was important to ensure that everyone in the squad has enough gametime under the belt ahead of the playoffs.
“We have made a few rotational changes to make sure that everyone will be ready to perform in the knock-out phase of the competition. We want to raise our game and put in a confidence-building performance to take some momentum forward.”
STORMERS – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Steven Kitshoff (c).
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Ruhan Nel.
Meanwhile, Benetton have also rung the changes to their starting lineup, after running the Sharks close in a try-fest in Durban. Matteo Minozzi replaces South African fullback Rhyno Smith, while former Stormers scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage takes over the captaincy in the absence of Italy flank Michele Lamaro.
BENETTON – 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Joaquin Riera, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Henry Time-Stowers, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Riccardo Favretto, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Filippo Alongi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Niccolò Cannone, 20 Lorenzo Cannone, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Tommaso Menoncello
Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix