The DHL Stormers are in Northern Italy, where they will come face to face with a confident Zebre Parma side on Saturday evening at 20:45 (SA Time).
Zebre suffered their first defeat of the new campaign when they were beaten 0-24 by the Ospreys last weekend, but the Italians have won their last two home games in the Vodacom URC and will be aiming for three in a row in Parma, a feat they last achieved in September 2018.
The DHL Stormers’ only defeat in their last eight Vodacom URC matches was in last season’s quarter-final against the Glasgow Warriors and the table-topping team from Cape Town will not only be keen to stay on the winning path but also keep their unbeaten record against Zebre intact.
In fact, the DHL Stormers have recorded bonus-point victories in each of their four matches to date against Zebre.
Springbok fullback Warrick Gelant will make his first appearance of the season for the DHL Stormers in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter with Zebre Parma on Saturday.
There are four changes to the starting line-up for the clash with the Italian outfit, which kicks off at 20h45 on Saturday at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma.
With Gelant at fullback, Damian Willemse shifts to inside centre to join captain Ruhan Nel in midfield.
In the forward pack, Adré Smith joins Ruben van Heerden in the second row, while up front, young tighthead Zachary Porthen is set to make his first start for the DHL Stormers.
Prop Hencus van Wyk is set to make his DHL Stormers debut from a replacements bench that also features the likes of loose forward Ruan Ackermann and utility back Wandisile Simelane.
Teams
Zebre: 15 Giovanni Montemauri, 14 Mirko Belloni, 13 Giulio Bertaccini, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Thomas Dominguez, 8 Giovanni Licata (captain), 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Davide Ruggeri, 5 Leonard Krumov, 4 Guido Volpi, 3 Ion Neculai,2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa. Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Juan Pitinari, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Franco Carrera, 20 David Odiase, 21 Migael Prinsloo, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Lorenzo Pani
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Imad Khan, 23 Wandisile Simelane.