The DHL Stormers have benched both Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and lock JD Schickerling for their crucial Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 game against French giants Toulon, while Springbok scrumhalf Cobus Reinach returns to the starting line-up.
Both Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Schickerling will be on the bench, part of what coach John Dobson describes as a ploy to finish the game strong and manage both players’ workloads, but the team have chosen a strong side nevertheless.
Jurie Mathee starts at 10 while Conor Evans comes in for Schickerling, as Dobson continues the experiment of Damian Willemse on the wing for the clash.
Reinach will partner Matthee, while Imad Khan is on the bench to cover halfback. Khan, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Wandisile Simelane are the backline cover on the bench.
Up front Neethling Fouche and Oli Kebble will start, with Andre-Hugo Venter between them while Deon Fourie will cover both hooker and flank from the bench as he did for the Springboks in the World Cup.
Evans partners Adre Smith at lock while there is a first start of the season for Hacjivah Dayimani, who knows French conditions exceptionally well. Dayimani is part of a potent loose trio that includes Paul de Villiers and Evan Roos after Ben-Jason Dixon was ruled out with concussion earlier in the week.
“The changes are looking a bit more at how we want to manage the load of certain players as we have four important weeks ahead. JD and Sacha will make a difference coming on in the second half and we are being careful with their load, while trying to build a bit of capacity by giving Conor and Jurie some more game time,” Dobson said.
“It is also giving us a bit of depth and thinking about how we want to finish this game, with a fast bench. So it is the responsibility of the team that starts to make sure we are still in touching distance by the time the bench comes on. Nobody has been dropped, this is just the right team for the opposition.
Dobson said that his team is ready to give it a full go in the south of France.
“We have come up against RC Toulon in this competition before, so we know that we can expect intensity for 80 minutes on the pitch. What will be a new experience for us is to play at the Stade Felix Mayol, which is renowned for its unique atmosphere.”
The game kicks off at 4pm.
DHL STORMERS: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Damian Willemse, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Oli Kebble.
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Wandisile Simelane.