Clayton Blommetjies will be at the unfamiliar position of flyhalf when the DHL Stormers open their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign against the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Normally a fullback, Blommetjies was moved to the pivot position when the Stormers played the HollywoodBets Sharks and the South Western Districts Eagles in a double header warmup game in George two weeks ago. It is not known if the reason he is wearing the No 10 in this game is for the same reason he did the job at Outeniqua Park, where he ended up playing both games because of injuries to Jurie Matthee and Jean-Luc du Plessis, but he obviously impressed there.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who can also play flyhalf and was one of the players listed by Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman in that position earlier in the week, will line up at inside centre. Having a player with flyhalf experience in the key decision-making axis will no doubt be helpful for Blommetjies as he faces down a new challenge at this level.
As anticipated, Springbok lock Salmaan Moerat is back from a long injury layoff to lead the side from the second row, alongside former Sharks player Ruben van Heerden. Warrick Gelant returns at fullback from his year away in France, but there is no place as yet in the starting team for any of the other five newcomers to the Stormers.
However, English star Ben Loader, recruited from the ill fated English club London Irish, is one of two backs on the bench as coach John Dobson has opted for a six/two bomb squad split between forwards and backs. Lizo Gqoboko, formerly of the Vodacom Bulls, is the backup loosehead prop.
Snyman did say earlier in the week that the Stormers would be backing players who are conversant with the systems from playing at the franchise for a number of years initially, and this selection is in keeping with that policy. So Kwenzo Blose, for instance, will be the first to get a crack at wearing the No 1 jersey vacated by departed captain Steven Kitshoff, who is currently with the Boks in France but will play for Ulster this season. Blose did apparently impress during the warmup game phase of the pre-season.
With Deon Fourie playing for the Boks, Marcel Theunissen, who apparently has added muscle and is superbly conditioned after the pre-season, will play at openside flank, while Ben-Jason Dixon is at blindside flank as a possible indication that the Stormers feel they will need a more traditional No 7, meaning a tighter more physical player, in that position for this game. The rangy Hacjivah Dayimani is on the bench and will be called on to add his pace and impact to the proceedings later in the game.
There are five Springboks in the starting team in the form of Gelant, Herschel Jantjies, Evan Roos, Moerat and Joseph Dweba.
DHL STORMERS TEAM: Warrick Gelant, Angelo Davids, Ruhan Nel, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Leolin Zas, Clayton Blommetjies, Herschel Jantjies, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Marcel Theunissen, Ruben van Heerden, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Neethling Fouche, Joseph Dweba, Kwenzo Blose. Replacements: Andre-Hugo Venter, Lizo Gqoboko, Brok Harris, Gary Porter, Hacjivah Dayimani, Willie Engelbrecht, Paul de Wet, Ben Loader.