Returning to Stellenbosch for their round two clash against the Welsh club on Saturday at 16:00, the DHL Stormers would have taken notice of the big score posted last weekend by the Vodacom Bulls against the same opponent.
The Capetonians have not lost to the Scarlets and even though they will be without their captain Salmaan Moerat, who was injured last weekend against the Emirates Lions, John Dobson’s team will approach Saturday’s game with confidence after they kicked off the season with a full house of five log points in Johannesburg.
Playing at the Danie Craven Stadium has also been a boon for the DHL Stormers. They’ve hosted three Vodacom URC games there and are yet to lose in the picturesque Boland town. They have also only lost once before to a Welsh club, to Cardiff a year ago (30-24).
DHL Stormers' new captain Neethling Fouche is joined in the front row by experienced loosehead Ali Vermaak, while Adre Smith, replacing injured Salmaan Moerat steps up to partner Ruben van Heerden at lock. The only change to the loose trio sees Hacjivah Dayimani come into the starting line-up, while openside flank Nama Xaba makes his return on the replacement bench.
Paul de Wet starts at scrumhalf this week in a rotation with Herschel Jantjies, who will make an impact in the second half. The only other change to the backline sees wing Ben Loader make his first start, with Courtnall Skosan set to make his DHL Stormers debut from the replacements bench.
DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that his side wants to make the most of the chance to play at home before they leave on a four-week tour.
“We have a good record in Stellenbosch, with three wins from three there in the last two seasons and we want to take some momentum with us on our tour up north.
“There are some exciting players that have come into the starting line-up this week, but we have largely kept the core of the team together, so hopefully we can see an improvement on last week’s performance.
“We are looking forward to playing in front of our fans in what is a rugby-mad town, it should be a great day out in Stellenbosch,” he said.
Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel has made two changes to the Scarlets’ starting line-up. Carwyn Tupulotu replaces Ben Williams at No. 8, while second-row Morgan Jones comes in for the injured Sam Lousi, who has a calf issue.
Looking forward to the game, Scarlets head coach Peel said: “We have another massive challenge playing against a side that has reached the final the last two years. They are similar to the Bulls in some ways in that when they get on top of you they are very physical and they keep the gainline. From a backs perspective, they are very sharp out wide, they want to play expansive rugby and they are razor sharp on turnover ball. We know we have to improve. Seeing who has got the resilience to bounce back is going to be interesting from a coach perspective.”
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 1 Ali Vermaak, 2 Joseph Dweba, 3 Neethling Fouche (c), 4 Adre Smith, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 8 Evan Roos, 9 Paul de Wet, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 11 Leolin Zas, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 13 Ruhan Nel, 14 Ben Loader, 15 Warrick Gelant. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Courtnall Skosan.
Scarlets: 1 Kemsley Mathias, 2 Shaun Evans, 3 Sam Wainwright, 4 Alex Craig, 5 Morgan Jones, 6 Taine Plumtree, 7 Dan Davis, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 9 Kieran Hardy, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 12 Jonathan Davies (c), 13 Joe Roberts, 14 Tom Rogers, 15 Johnny McNIcholl. Replacements: 16 Isaac Young, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Jac Price, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Eddie James.