The Stormers know they must match and go beyond the physicality of the Sale Sharks if they want to end up with a first Champions Cup victory this afternoon in Cape Town (3pm kick-off).
Looking at the forwards the English club side selected, the Cape outfit are in for a bruising encounter, with four South Africans packing down for the visitors.
Our team for the Investec Champions Cup clash with Sale Sharks at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) January 10, 2025
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But with that in mind, the hosts also beefed up their forwards for the encounter today, although they are missing a few Springboks through injury and resting protocols.
The Stormers know that a bonus-point victory will keep their hopes alive of making the knockout stages of the Champions Cup.
And although they’ve lost their first two matches of the campaign, recent wins at home will give them some necessary momentum.
Half-century up for JD at DHL Stadium on Saturday.#STOvSHA #iamastormer #JohnDave pic.twitter.com/7OhE9ke75p
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For that to happen, though, the home side must stop Sale’s hard men in English hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, South African brothers Jean-Luc and Dan du Preez, and fellow loose forward Tom Curry.
Locks Ernst van Rhyn – a former Stormer – and ex-Shark Hyron Andrews will know how to disrupt the Stormers’ lineouts, even when they call in Afrikaans.
Lineout ace JD Schickerling will play his 50th match for the Cape side and he, alongside captain Salmaan Moerat, will want to ensure his department, with hooker JJ Kotze, goes as smoothly as possible.
“They are a very physical team and will come hard at us... that is how they play,” said Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani, Stormers forwards coach.
“We must match that and go beyond. It is going to be a confrontational type of game.”
The Return of Roos ⚡️
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Even though the hosts expect a physical battle, they’ve decided to let the returning star No 8 Evan Roos play from the bench.
Loosehead prop Sti Sithole and winger Ben Loader have been thrust straight into action after recovering from their respective injuries.
Although an untested combination, youngster Jonathan Roche will be eager to grab his opportunity at inside centre next to Wandisile Simelane, who hasn’t enjoyed a lot of game-time since joining the Stormers.
Their linking on the attack and defence will be crucial for the home team.
Regular outside centre Ruhan Nel picked up a rib niggle in the week, while utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu underwent a small procedure after injuring his shoulder against the Sharks in the final game of last year.
He was the inside centre in the absence of Dan du Plessis.
“I don’t have an accurate return to play, but Sacha won’t return in the next week or two,” Hlungwani confirmed.
About the game, he added that while they can’t control what happens in the other groups – which could prevent them from going through to the playoffs – they just want to see some hunger by the players to improve.
“This game is very important, because we pretty much put ourselves under pressure to improve from our last performance,” Hlungwani said.
“We must go as hard as we can to get the victory, and that is what we have prepared for. Hopefully, it yields good results for us.”
Teams For Cape Town Stadium
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg 13 Wandisile Simelane 12 Jonathan Roche 11 Ben Loader 10 Manie Libbok 9 Stefan Ungerer 8 Marcel Theunissen 7 Dave Ewers 6 Deon Fourie 5 JD Schickerling 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain) 3 Frans Malherbe 2 JJ Kotze 1 Sti Sithole.
Bench: 16 André-Hugo Venter 17 Ali Vermaak 18 Neethling Fouché 19 Ruben van Heerden 20 Evan Roos 21 Paul de Villiers 22 Paul de Wet 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter 14 Tom Roebuck 13 Luke James 12 Sam Bedlow 11 Arron Reed 10 Robert du Preez (captain) 9 Gus Warr 8 Dan du Preez 7 Tom Curry 6 Jean-Luc du Preez 5 Hyron Andrews 4 Ernst van Rhyn 3 Willgriff John 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie 1 Bevan Rodd.
Bench: 16 Tadgh McElroy 17 Si McIntyre 18 James Harper 19 Josh Beaumont 20 Ben Bamber 21 Nye Thomas 22 Rekeiti Maasi-White 23 Ben Curry.