Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has selected a Bok-laden side for their final pre-season game against Boland in Wellington on Friday.
There are nine Springboks in the extended match-day squad for the Stormers’ third warm-up game. Up front, props Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff will start either side of hooker Bongi Mbonambi, while JD Schickerling and Cobus Wiese complete the second row.
The loose trio will see captain Siya Kolisi start alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit and No 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, with Jaco Coetzee, Kobus van Dyk and Juarno Augustus on the bench.
Justin Phillips and Damian Willemse will make up the halfback partnership, while Damian de Allende and Ruhan Nel are in the midfield. At the back, Craig Barry starts at 15, with JJ Engelbrecht and SP Marais on the wings.
Fleck said his players were looking forward to putting the final touches on their preparations for the Vodacom Super Rugby campaign that kicks off next weekend.
‘Boland are always highly motivated to play us in Wellington, so we are looking forward to pushing ourselves.
‘We have a number of players coming in after a pre-season conditioning phase, so it will be important for us to gel as a unit and get as much as we possibly can out of this game.’
Stormers – 15 Craig Barry, 14 JJ Engelbrecht, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 SP Marais, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Juarno Augustus, 22 Kobus van Dyk, 23 Herschel Jantjies, 24 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 25 Joshua Stander, 26 Dan du Plessis, 27 Dan Kriel, 28 Nico Leonard.
Boland Cavaliers – 15 Gavern Skippers, 14 Juandre Joseph, 13 Michaine Fick, 12 Wayne Smith, 11 Valentino Wellman, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Ricardo Duarttee, 8 Patrick O’Brien, 7 Kenan Cronje, 6 Tapiwa Tsomondo, 5 Johannes Janse van Rensburg, 4 Marlyn Williams (c), 3 Clinton Theron, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Arnout Malherbe.
Subs: 16 Francois Esterhuyzen, 17 Theunis Nieuwoudt, 18 Clarence van Wyk, 19 Robyn Adams, 20 Deejee Putter, 21 Taine-Randall Booysen, 22 Thurlow Marsh, 23 Vincent Fredericks, 24 Gurshwin Africa, 25 Sherwin Cupido, 26 Garrick Mattheus, 27 Wilneth Engelbrecht, 28 Andries Viljoen, 29 Givan Adams, 30 Shilton van Wyk
Photo: Gallo Images
