John Dobson has rejigged the Stormers front row and loose trio to face the Bristol Bears at Cape Town Stadium in their Investec Champions Cup opener on Saturday.
Coming off a 39-22 win against the Sharks in round three of the URC, Evan Roos is set to make his first appearance of the season for the first meeting between the Stormers and English club Bristol.
The Springbok No 8 has recovered from a hamstring injury in time to replace the in-form Hacjivah Dayimani, who has been ruled out due to concussion.
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Vernon Matongo, JJ Kotzé and Sazi Sandi will start in a rejigged front row, with André-Hugo Venter, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Zachary Porthen set to make an impact from the bench.
The run-on backline is unchanged, with Warrick Gelant coming in for Wandisile Simelane as a replacement this week.
Pat Lam’s Bristol, who reached the Champions Cup round of 16 last season, travel to the Mother City on the back of a 30-7 defeat by Saracens in the Premiership.
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“We saw last season how important collecting points in the pool phase is in the Investec Champions Cup, which makes your home matches crucial,” Dobson said.
“We have kept a fair amount of continuity in selection as we look to build on some of the momentum from last week’s win. While it is disappointing to lose Hacjivah to concussion, we are able to call on Evan, who is raring to go, along with the new front row.
“The team is still buzzing from the incredible atmosphere created by our fans last week and we can’t wait to experience it all again as we take on a strong Bristol side that showed they understand what it takes to win in South Africa with a notable victory at Loftus Versfeld last season.”
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STORMERS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 JJ Kotzé, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Bench: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Riley Norton, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Warrick Gelant.
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
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