The DHL Stormers will want to keep alive their hopes of finishing in the top four for a home quarter-final in the next few weeks when they face the Dragons RFC on Friday at 21:35 (SA Time).
The DHL Stormers may face a tougher assignment playing away from home, but they will take comfort from the fact that the Dragons are second-last on the log with only three victories in their 15 matches so far this season.
The DHL Stormers will enter their clash against the Dragons as favourites on form and based on their log position, especially with their track record showing nine wins this season to three by the Dragons, which includes a morale-boosting 42-12 victory against Leinster two weeks ago. That said, they will be careful about writing off the hosts, whose three wins were all at home in Newport.
With the Capetonians having scored 128 points more than their opposition this season and conceding 218 points fewer, they will target this match for a bonus point victory. The fact that they face a daunting task next week against Connacht in their second tour game will also certainly fuel their determination.
The DHL Stormers welcome back three players from injury. Angelo Davids, Sti Sithole and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu all make their return to the matchday 23.
Davids is on the wing in a backline that features Wandisile Simelane and Dan du Plessis in midfield, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu is on a replacement bench which also includes halfbacks Stefan Ungerer and Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Sithole is in the front row alongside Frans Malherbe and Joseph Dweba, while the only other change to the starting forward pack sees Willie Engelbrecht included on the side of the scrum.
DHL Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said that his team is aware of just how important this game is in the context of their season.
“There is little room for error as the play-offs get closer and having had all of last week to prepare, we are determined to give our best on Friday night.
“We know that Rodney Parade is a tough place to play, so it will require a big effort to get the result that we need,” he said.
Chris Hollis will make his Dragons RFC debut against his former side.
Dragons RFC Head coach Dai Flanagan made five changes to his starting line-up with a new-look half-back pairing of Will Reed and Dane Blacker.
Lock George Nott replaces the suspended Ben Carter while Harri Keddie makes his return in the openside jersey against the play-off chasing Springboks.
Flyhalf Angus O’Brien could make his return, and 100th URC appearance, from the bench while there are also call-ups for Brodie Coghlan, Dmitri Arhip and Sio Tomkinson.
Scrumhalf Morgan Lloyd could also make his senior club debut after being named among the replacements.
Flanagan said: “We have seen that it is full metal jacket from the Stormers and that's great for us. We’re at home in front of our people and it is our last game at Rodney Parade, we need to make it count.
“I thought our intensity was superb against Connacht and we need to match that and be more accurate because we know they are coming.
“Connacht want to get in the play-offs, Stormers want to get into the play-offs, Ospreys want to get into the play-offs. How good would it be to knock one of them, maybe two of them, off?”
Teams:
Dragons RFC: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Steff Hughes (c), 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Chris Hollis, 10 Will Reed, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Sean Lonsdale,5 George Nott, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rhodri Jones. Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 James Benjamin, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Morgan Lloyd, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Sio Tomkinson.
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.