Du Plessis strengthens Stormers for Sharks clash

The DHL Stormers will be welcoming back their experienced and influential inside centre Dan du Plessis in Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the Hollywoodbets Sharks at the DHL Stadium.

Du Plessis has been out for the entire season so far with an injury sustained in the pre-season and Stormers head coach John Dobson has never been shy to admit that his absence was sorely felt, particularly during the overseas tour where the Stormers failed to win in four starts. The cousin of Jean-Luc du Plessis, who wore the No 12 last week before being injured towards the end of the first half against the Vodacom Bulls, is a leader in the Stormers group and was also in outstanding form last season.

With Damian Willemse doing well at fullback when he reverted to that position when Warrick Gelant was ruled out of last week’s game, and Gelant probably needing some time before being ready for the two Champions Cup games the Stormers will play in January, returning Du Plessis to the starting team now that he is ready to play again would have been an easy decision for Dobson.

He also has enough depth at hooker to be able to rotate in that position, and he has opted to give veteran one-cap Springbok Scarra Ntubeni a start in what will be his landmark 100th game for the Stormers, a journey that started for him way back in 2012. Andre-Hugo Venter, one of several Stormers youngsters who look on the cusp of making this a real breakthrough season, will cover Ntubeni from the bench.

The return of Du Plessis and Ntubeni are the only changes to the team that started in the 26-20 win over the Bulls and it is an indication of how seriously Dobson and his fellow charges are taking the Sharks’ challenge. After two intense and physical big games against La Rochelle in the Champions Cup and the URC clash with the Bulls, the Stormers could easily have opted for a mix and match type of selection given the depth the Cape franchise appears to have available to it.

However, as defence coach Norman Laker pointed out earlier in the week, the Stormers are not paying any attention to the Sharks’ currently lowly second last position on the log and they have massive respect of what the Sharks could be capable of if their star players click.

The Sharks have several World Cup winners in their ranks, speaking of which scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, a 2019 World Cup winner for South Africa, has recovered from the injury that prevented him from playing against the Bulls and he will take Stefan Ungerer’s position on the bench.

An interesting inclusion on the bench is Hendre Stassen, who did so well at lock for the Stormers in their recent away Champions Cup clash with Leicester Tigers, while the real star of that game, flyhalf Jurie Matthee, is the outside back reserve in an impact squad that features a six/two split between forwards and backs.

It will be interesting to see if Matthee can double as a fullback should the game situation demand it - Du Plessis is likely to only play 60 minutes which will mean Willemse moves into the midfield for the last quarter.

DHL STORMERS TEAM: Damian Willemse, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Ruhan Nel, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Paul de Wet, Hacjivah Dayimani, Ben-Jason Dixon, Deon Fourie (captain), Ruben van Heerden, Adre Smith, Neethling Fouche, Scarra Ntubeni, Sti Sithole.

REPLACEMENTS: Andre-Hugo Venter, Ali Vermaak, Brok Harris, Hendre Stassen, Marcel Theunissen, Willie Engelbrecht, Herschel Jantjies, Jurie Matthee.