In Cape Town, the DHL Stormers will have their sights set on maintaining their unbeaten run at home this season when they host the Sale Sharks, who lead them on the table by a five-point points’ difference, at the DHL Stadium on Saturday at 19:30 (SA Time).
The Capetonians have been in fine form at home where they defeated the Investec Champions Cup title holders, La Rochelle, in the last month before going on to defeat the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
With the Sale Sharks winning seven of their 11 Premiership matches and the DHL Stormers on five wins in nine games in the Vodacom URC, and the visitors finding themselves under massive pressure to bounce back from back-to-back defeats, it is expected to be a good contest.
There are a few changes to the DHL Stormers backline and just one in the forward pack for the Investec Champions Cup encounter with Sale Sharks at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
Wing Courtnall Skosan and scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies are back in the starting line-up, while Suleiman Hartzenberg shifts to outside centre in place of the injured Ruhan Nel.
The only change among the forwards sees hooker Andre-Hugo Venter make a deserved start after a number of impressive performances as an impact player.
Hooker Joseph Dweba, lock Connor Evans, flank Nama Xaba and fullback Warrick Gelant all return via the replacements bench.
Head Coach John Dobson said that his team want to make the most of what is their last match at DHL Stadium until late March.
“We enjoyed some incredible support at DHL Stadium over the festive period and we won’t play again here for a while, so we would love to give our supporters another great night.
“It will be tough in what is a crucial match for both sides and we are expecting Sale to throw everything they have at us, which should make for a great spectacle,” he said.
England u/20s winger Alex Wills makes his first Investec Champions Cup appearance for the Sale Sharks while Telusa Veainu, Ben Bamber and Josh Beaumont will also start.
Elsewhere Agustin Creevy gets the nod to start at hooker and Sam Bedlow returns after missing the defeat against Bristol to take his place at inside centre.
In the front row, Argentine veteran Creevy, who scored in the Salford Stadium defeat against Pat Lam’s men, starts between props Ross Harrison and James Harper.
Bamber starts with Jonny Hill in the second row and they’ll have an all homegrown back-row behind them, with Sam Dugdale and captain Ben Curry joined by Josh Beaumont at number 8.
In the backs, Gus Warr and Rob du Preez start together again at half-back, and they’ll have the two Sams – Bedlow and James – outside them in the centres.
Al has picked a back three full of youth and experience with Wills and Arron Reed starting either side of former Leicester full-back Veainu.
On the bench, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tumy Onasanya and Asher Opoku-Fordjour are the front-row replacements, while Rouban Birch and Tommy Taylor will cover the rest of the forwards.
Academy trio Nye Thomas, Tom Curtis and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White are the replacement backs.
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Warrick Gelant.
Sale Sharks: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Arron Reed, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Alex Wills, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 Sam Dugdale, Ben Bamber, 4 Jonny Hill, 3 James Harper, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Ross Harrison. Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Rouban Birch, 20 Tommy Taylor, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White