The Stormers have wrapped a few stars in cotton wool for their final Champions Cup group match against Racing 92 in Paris on Saturday night (10pm SA time kick-off), but will still put out a team that can compete for a victory.
No Libbok, Gelant or Fourie for the #Stormers in the final group stage #ChampionsCup clash against Racing92 in Paris. Jurie Matthee at 10, Clayton Blommetjies at 15. The exciting centre combo of Roche and Simelane is kept. Roos, Dweba and Fouche returns up front pic.twitter.com/U4yYTixosa
— Leighton Koopman (@Leighton_K) January 17, 2025
Flyhalf Manie Libbok, fullback Warrick Gelant and flanker Deon Fourie are all sitting out, alongside scrumhalf Paul de Wet, with an eye on next week's duel with Leinster in the United Rugby Championship.
The return to the starting line-up of Bok loose forward Evan Roos, tighthead Neethling Fouché and hooker Joseph Dweba, though, should add some grunt to the pack announced by the Cape side on Friday.
While they are losing a bit of strike-power at the back, there is still enough experience to bag a needed win at the famed La Defence Arena in the City of Lights.
🥳 There was plenty to celebrate at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) January 14, 2025
Watch the full Unfiltered version of our win against Sale Sharks on Stormers TV 👇https://t.co/S0oMImuSZV pic.twitter.com/YTtLexRQRF
The Stormers will be looking to build on their impressive 40-0 victory over Sale Sharks last weekend, with a bonus-point victory likely to secure them a place in the Round of 16.
Dweba will take his place alongside Fouché and Sti Sithole in the front row, while veteran Frans Malherbe is set to boost the team from the replacements’ bench.
Our team for the Investec Champions Cup Round Four clash in Paris on Saturday night.
📢 Team announcement https://t.co/2QT3MZbs4x#R92vSTO #iamastormer pic.twitter.com/2ivFqgWPH0
In the rest of the engine room, Stormers captain Salmaan Moerat will partner lock Ruben van Heerden, who replaces JD Schickerling, who’s had a high workload since returning for the visitors.
Coach John Dobson selected a powerful back row that will see Willie Engelbrecht and Marcel Theunissen blend their strength and agility, with Roos stepping into the pivotal No 8 position.
The trio will have a big job to do in keeping former Stormers talisman Hacjivah Dayimani, who will start at No 8 for Racing, in check in the loose-trio battle.
Strap in for some high-quality rugby in the final round of the #InvestecChampionsCup pool stage 🏆🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/3cnFEmgMsE
In the halfback pairing, Dobson has opted for the experience of scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage and the youth of Jurie Matthee.
Matthee gets another shot at making his mark in a high-stakes clash, and will drive the Stormers’ attacking and kicking plays alongside the veteran.
Clayton Blommetjies is the other change in the backline, slotting in at fullback and looking to leverage his speed and skill against a strong Racing 92 side.
Reflecting on the necessary adaptations for Saturday’s match, Director of Rugby Dobson underscored the importance of acclimatising to the venue’s unique conditions.
“We are playing on an artificial pitch under a closed roof in the European winter, which is quite a change from the summer conditions we enjoyed at home last week,” he explained.
“We’ve got some exciting players coming into the mix this week, and we are looking forward to seeing what sort of impact they make.” | Independent Media Sport
Stormers Team
15 Clayton Blommetjies 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg 13 Wandisile Simelane 12 Jonathan Roche 11 Ben Loader 10 Jurie Matthee 9 Dewaldt Duvenage 8 Evan Roos 7 Marcel Theunissen 6 Willie Engelbrecht 5 Ruben van Heerden 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain) 3 Neethling Fouché 2 Joseph Dweba 1 Sti Sithole.
Bench: 16 André-Hugo Venter 17 Ali Vermaak 18 Frans Malherbe 19 JD Schickerling 20 Dave Ewers 21 Paul de Villiers 22 Herschel Jantjies 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.