The DHL Stormers will welcome Edinburgh to the DHL Stadium in Cape Town for the first game of the new season at their home stadium after they opened the season last week with a 38-15 triumph over Irish side Connacht in Stellenbosch.
The DHL Stormers suffered a setback with the news that Seabelo Senatla will be sidelined for up to six months following surgery to repair pectoral damage sustained in last weekend's win over Connacht.
The Capetonians produced some sparkling tries a week ago against Connacht but they now face an Edinburgh combination eager to make up for the disappointment of losing by a couple of points in Pretoria.
Edinburgh have shown against the Vodacom Bulls that they are able to compete with the best in South Africa and will test the Stormers up front more than ever. Should Edinburgh dominate up front the Stormers will find it difficult to win. The returning Springboks could be the difference between winning or losing.
Prediction: Edinburgh will test the DHL Stormers' a lot more than what Connacht did, however, the DHL Stormers should win with 10 - 15 points.
Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba will make his DHL Stormers debut in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
Dweba’s inclusion is one of six changes to the team for the encounter with the Scottish outfit.
His fellow Springboks Damian Willemse, Deon Fourie and Salmaan Moerat all come straight into the starting line-up, with Herschel Jantjies among the replacements and Marvin Orie taking the captaincy.
There are two positional switches in the backline, with Dan du Plessis at outside centre and Suleiman Hartzenberg shifting to the wing in place of the injured Seabelo Senatla, while up front Neethling Fouche comes in at tighthead prop.
DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that the team is looking forward to their first match at DHL Stadium since the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final last season.
“It is great to have a few of our top players back from national duty and they have all slotted in seamlessly this week.
“We are all looking forward to getting out there at DHL Stadium in an early game which should be a great occasion for everyone,” he said.
Flyhalf Blair Kinghorn returns to the starting line-up of Edinburgh Rugby after recovering from a sickness bug that kept him out of last weekend’s narrow defeat to Vodacom Bulls.
Scrum-half Ben Vellacott is paired with Kinghorn at half-back, as Henry Pyrgos moves to the bench, while Stuart McInally comes in at hooker with Dave Cherry selected among the replacements.
Edinburgh made two further changes to the pack as number 8 Nick Haining and openside flanker and British & Irish Lion, Hamish Watson, make their first starts of the season in place of Viliame Mata and Luke Crosbie respectively.
Edinburgh Rugby’s starting XV features 14 Scotland internationalists, seven of whom developed through the club’s academy system.
Ahead of the fixture, Blair said: “After a really physical match against Vodacom Bulls, we’ve returned to Cape Town where we’ve had a great week of training, with the squad fully focussed for another massive test against last season’s Champions.
“We obviously met the Stormers in Cape Town in last year’s Quarter-Final so we know just how good they are, especially at home, but we’re playing with confidence and our squad will be fired up to improve on last weekend’s performance.
“It’s a huge challenge but one we’re relishing as we take on the URC Champions in their own backyard.”
An unchanged back-three sees Henry Immelman continue at full-back as Scotland duo Darcy Graham, who has five tries in two games so far this season, and Damien Hoyland get the nod on opposite wings.
James Lang (inside-centre) continues in midfield, while Mark Bennett retains his place at outside-centre after a player-of-the-match performance against Vodacom Bulls in Round 2.
Hooker McInally packs down alongside an unchanged prop pairing of Pierre Schoeman (loosehead) and WP Nel (tighthead) as Scotland locks Sam Skinner and Grant Gilchrist complete the tight-five.
In the back-row, club co-captain Jamie Ritchie continues at blindside flanker alongside Watson and Haining.
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie (captain), 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Ernst van Rhyn, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Sacha Mngomezulu.
Edinburgh Rugby: 15. Henry Immelman, 14. Darcy Graham, 13. Mark Bennett, 12. James Lang, 11. Damien Hoyland, 10. Blair Kinghorn, 9. Ben Vellacott, 8. Nick Haining, 7. Hamish Watson, 6. Jamie Ritchie (cc), 5. Grant Gilchrist (cc), 4. Sam Skinner, 3. WP Nel, 2. Stuart McInally, 1. Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16. Dave Cherry, 17. Boan Venter, 18. Luan de Bruin, 19. Glen Young, 20. Ben Muncaster, 21. Henry Pyrgos, 22. Charlie Savala, 23. Chris Dean.