The DHL Stormers have been bostered ahead of Saturday’s Vodacom URC quarterfinal against Cardiff by the return of some key players, with the headline returnees to the starting team being regular skipper Ruhan Nel and the pacy winger Seabelo Senatla.
But also strengthening the Stormers for this first game of the Finals Series is loose-forward Ruan Ackermann, the son of Vodacom Bulls head coach Johan, who has been out since he played an influential role for the Stormers in their narrow win over the Bulls in the home derby at the beginning of January.
Ackermann returned to training a few weeks ago and is now ready to play, as another influential forward on the bench, Salmaan Moerat, who played in the second half against Cardiff last time out but was absent from the second half of January until that game after undergoing toe surgery. This could well be Moerat’s last home game as a Stormers as he is heading to La Rochelle next season. The starting No 5 lock Ruben van Heerden is also heading to France at the end of the season so this could also be his DHL Stadium swan song as a Stormers player, with a future appearance at the stadium depending on whether the Stormers beat Cardiff and there is an upset somewhere else in the draw. A home semifinal next week is possible but it depends on the Fidelity SecureDrive Lions beating Leinster in Dublin, and after that there’s a possibility of a Stormers/Bulls home final if there’s a freaky sequence of results that conspires in the favour of the two South African teams.
The Stormers have a strong team starting the Finals Series and they certainly look well equipped to beat Cardiff and go deeper in the competition, with the fears that they might be without either or both of fullback Damian Willemse and wing Leolin Zas after an accidental heavy clash in training on Wednesday proving unfounded.
With the exception of the return to action of Senatla and Nel the backline is the same one that did duty against Cardiff in the final league game, while the forward pack that dominated that game is together again, with the difference coming on the bench, where Vernon Matongo, who coach John Dobson expects to go on to become a top Springbok, returns from injury for the now injured Oli Kebble as back-up to the powerful and mobile Ntuthuko Mchunu.
DHL Stormers: Damian Willemse, Seabelo Senatla, Ruhan Nel (captain), Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Imad Khan, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Paul de Villiers, Ruben van Heerden, Adré Smith, Neethling Fouché, André-Hugo Venter, Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: JJ Kotzé, Vernon Matongo, Zachary Porthen, Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Ackermann, Marcel Theunissen, Stefan Ungerer, Jurie Matthee.