Cape Town – Jean-Luc du Plessis will call the shots for the Stormers on attack in Friday night’s United Rugby Championship clash against Ulster in Belfast (9.35pm kick-off).
Du Plessis – the son of former Springbok wing Carel – will slot in at flyhalf in place of Kade Wolhuter for the much-anticipated match between last season’s semi-finalists at Kingspan Stadium.
Wolhuter battled to find a spark with ball-in-hand in last week’s 30-16 Champions Cup win over Clermont Auvergne at Cape Town Stadium, and was replaced early in the second half by Du Plessis, who impressed coach John Dobson enough with his energy and creativity in the pivot position to be handed the No 10 jersey on Thursday.
With Damian Willemse joining captain Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe in the group of Springboks observing their resting protocols – and Manie Libbok being given another week off following his concussion, Du Plessis will be keen to fire from the start against Ulster.
He will have Junior Springbok captain Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu alongside him at inside centre, with Cornel Smit replacing the injured Angelo Davids at left wing, while Clayton Blommetjies takes over from Willemse at fullback.
Star No 8 Evan Roos is back in the starting line-up after his outstanding second-half display off the bench against Clermont, and he will be joined by Willie Engelbrecht and Junior Pokomela in the loose trio.
As expected, Bok lock Marvin Orie assumes the captaincy in place of Kitshoff, while there is a new front four of Ali Vermaak – who will earn his 50th Stormers cap – JJ Kotze, Brok Harris and Ben-Jason Dixon.
Two Stormers stalwarts, hooker Scarra Ntubeni and centre Juan de Jongh – return to action from lengthy injury lay-offs on the bench, while new lock signing Ruben van Heerden is also among the replacements.
“It is another short turnaround this week, but we are excited to see what these combinations can do,” Dobson said.
“We have been bolstered by the return of some experienced players and we will need all of it against a good Ulster side.”
Stormers starting XV: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Cornel Smit, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Stefan Ungerer; 8 Evan Roos, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Marvin Orie (capt), 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Brok Harris, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Juan de Jongh.
IOL Sport