In the final match involving a team from South Africa on Saturday at 19:15 in the fifth round, the DHL Stormers take on Munster in Limerick in a repeat of last season’s final, in which the Irish side ground out a heroic 19-14 victory in Cape Town, only a few weeks after they also won their league clash at DHL Stadium (26-24).
The DHL Stormers’ last visit to Limerick also ended in defeat as they went down 34-18 at Thomond Park, with both Munster’s Springbok locks, RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn, scoring tries on that day.
Neither Snyman nor Kleyn, who played for the DHL Stormers earlier, will be in action on Saturday though. Even without these players, a tough task awaits the Capetonians as they aim to turn their tour fortunes around, having lost 9-20 to Glasgow before going down 17-20 to Benetton in Treviso last weekend.
The return to fitness of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for the DHL Stormers means that Ruhan Nel moves to outside centre with Ben Loader on the wing, while Paul de Wet starts at scrumhalf in the other backline change.
Flank Willie Engelbrecht, lock Gary Porter, hooker Joseph Dweba and prop Sti Sithole all start up front this week through rotation in the pack.
Hooker Andre-Hugo Venter and wing Angelo Davids are the only players on the replacements bench that did not feature last week.
DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson congratulated Zas on the milestone.
“Leolin has a fantastic story, he started out as a prodigious talent who suffered a major injury setback and came back a different player. He embodies the fighting spirit we want to play with and we are thrilled for him to reach his DHL Stormers half-century this weekend.
“We know that we will have to lift our standards in a number of areas this weekend and the players who are coming in are all keen to make their presence felt in what will be a tough game at Thomond Park,” he said.
There are four changes to Munster beaten by Ulster in Belfast last week.
Munster captain Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Beirne return from international duty and go straight into the first XV with fellow Ireland international Conor Murray among the replacements.
Scott Buckley starts at hooker for the first time since his debut in 2021 and makes his 21st Munster appearance.
Academy winger Shay McCarthy starts on his third Munster appearance and is the only change to the backline.
Stephen Archer is also named among the replacements and in line to play his 268th game for Munster, equalling Donncha O’Callaghan’s record of most appearances for the province.
Shane Daly starts at full-back with Calvin Nash and McCarthy on either wing.
Craig Casey and Jack Crowley start together in the half-backs once again with Alex Nankivell and Antoine Frisch continuing their centre partnership.
Jeremy Loughman, Buckley and John Ryan start in the front row with Academy lock Edwin Edogbo and Beirne in the engine room.
O’Mahony, John Hodnett and Gavin Coombes complete the starting XV.
In the replacements, hooker Chris Moore is in line for his senior Munster debut off the bench after joining from Exeter University in 2022.
Josh Wycherley, record-equalling Archer, Tom Ahern and Alex Kendellen complete the back-up in the forwards.
Murray and Rory Scannell are the backline replacements.
Teams
Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Shay McCarthy, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 John Ryan, 2 Scott Buckley, 1 Jeremy Loughman. Replacements: 16 Chris Moore, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Alex Kendellen.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Keke Morabe, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Clayton Blommetjies, 23 Angelo Davids.
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