Cape Town - Damian Willemse will slot in at centre for the Stormers in their all-important United Rugby Championship match against Benneton in Stellenbosch.
Willemse will partner the in-form Dan du Plessis with Ruhan Nel providing cover off the bench in the Danie Craven Stadium (kickoff 18:30).
With Willemse's shift, Clayton Blommetjies takes his place at fullback again, while winger Angelo Davids comes in for Suleiman Hartzenberg.
Springbok Evan Roos will make his first start since his injury after being given the eight-jersey for the final round-robin match of the season.
John Dobson, Stormers coach, further shuffled his pack bringing in JJ Kotze and Neethling Fouche in place of Springboks Joseph Dweba and Frans Malherbe respectively.
He wants to ensure that most of his players, who will be running out in the quarter-finals next month, have enough playing minutes under their belt. The Benetton game gives him a last chance to do that at a high level, while some of the guys might get a run-out in the Currie Cup next weekend.
♻️ A few rotations for our final @Vodacom #URC league game of the season in Stellenbosch where Paul de Wet will reach his 50 on Friday night.
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) April 20, 2023
📢 Team announcement https://t.co/T9t1iE0MtS
🎟️ Tickets here https://t.co/mvT2xfHCEu#STOvBEN #iamastormer #dhldelivers #UnitedWeRise pic.twitter.com/ZhejFuOhp4
With the team losing their last two games, Dobson is hopeful that they can build some momentum ahead of the URC knockouts.
They are also still in a tussle with Ulster for the second place on the URC log with Ulster having the advantage currently.
“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," Dobson said with this team announcement.
“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 (captain).
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.
@LeightonK