An Unbeaten DHL Stormers Awaits The Blues In Cape Town

Photo by Hansie Linde/Speedshots.co.za

DHL Stormers are at home against the Blues in Cape Town on Saturdayand is the only unbeaten team left in this year's Vodacom Super Rugby competition while the Blues were impressive against the Vodacom Bulls last weekend and has won two from four matches this year. Kick-off will be @ 15h05 in Cape Town.

The DHL Stormers have made two rotational changes for Saturday's match with Springbok tighthead prop Wilco Louw and Chris van Zyl (lock) both come into the starting line-up, with Springbok Frans Malherbe and Salmaan Moerat now amongst the replacements.

There are two further changes to the DHL Stormers’ replacements bench, with former Junior Springbok prop Kwenzo Blose set to make his debut when he comes on, and utility forward Cobus Wiese back in the matchday squad.

The Blues will call on the experienced pairing of TJ Faiane and All Black Rieko Ioane in the midfield in the starting team to take on unbeaten Stormers in Cape Town on Sunday morning (NZ time) in Investec Super Rugby.

The pair has 85 caps for the Blues between them, with Faiane returning to the starting line-up after coming off the bench in last week’s win over the Bulls, while Ioane has made a speedy recovery from a fractured hand to form an exciting midfield combination.

It is the only significant change from the team that played strongly in Pretoria last weekend, with England international Joe Marchant making his fifth straight start but moving to the right-wing, while Sam Nock gets his first start with Jonathan Ruru to come off the bench.

The only change in the pack sees Kurt Eklund get his second start at hooker with James Parsons returning to New Zealand with a shoulder injury, with exciting North Harbour prospect, Luteru Tolai coming into the reserves as a replacement.

DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that his team is looking forward to a blockbuster clash at DHL Newlands.
“This game has all the makings of a classic South African-New Zealand battle, in front of the DHL Newlands Faithful.
“With our bye coming up next week we are going to pour absolutely everything into getting the result and making it five consecutive wins.
“We have made some rotational changes up front, but otherwise we have managed to keep some good continuity as we look to keep building and raising our standards,” he said.

Blues coach Leon MacDonald said the side, largely unchanged from last week, need to produce another 80-minute performance against the strong Stormers combination. “They are unbeaten this season and pose threats across the park. We need to concentrate on our core roles, securing set phase and winning the battle at the breakdown,” said MacDonald.

“We were patient last week and stuck to our crucial game plan. We need to be more disciplined because we can’t play for 20 minutes with one player short like last week.

“We have had a good week in preparation at altitude and hope we can reap some rewards for that coming back down to sea-level at Cape Town.”

The teams:

DHL Stormers: 15. Dillyn Leyds, 14. Sergeal Petersen, 13. Ruhan Nel, 12. Jamie Roberts, 11. Seabelo Senatla, 10. Damian Willemse, 9. Herschel Jantjies, 8. Juarno Augustus, 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6. Jaco Coetzee, 5. JD Schickerling, 4. Chris van Zyl, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Steven Kitshoff (captain). Replacements: 16. Chad Solomon, 17. Kwenzo Blose, 18. Frans Malherbe, 19. Salmaan Moerat, 20. Cobus Wiese, 21. Ernst van Rhyn, 22. Godlen Masimla, 23. Jean-Luc du Plessis.

Blues: 15. Stephen Perofeta, 14. Joe Marchant, 13. Rieko Ioane, 12. TJ Faiane, 11. Mark Telea, 10. Otere Black, 9. Sam Nock; 8. Hoskins Sotutu, 7. Dalton Papalii, 6. Tom Robinson, 5. Jacob Pierce, 4. Patrick Tuipulotu (Captain), 3. Sione Mafileo 2. Kurt Eklund, 1. Karl Tu’inukuafe. Replacements: 16. Luteru Tolai, 17. Marcel Renata, 18. Ofa Tuungafasi, 18. Aaron Carroll, 20. Blake Gibson, 21. Jonathan Ruru, 22. Harry Plummer, 23. Matt Duffie.