TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Prop Brok Harris will captain the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship match against Cardiff on Friday, which will see him bring up 400 senior professional caps.
On Friday night, the Stormers conclude their four-game tour at Arms Park.
Harris, who owns 135 Stormers caps in addition to over 100 for the Dragons and Western Province, will lead them out. On Friday night, he will tie Steven Kitshoff for the most caps among Stormers players.
The Stormers are trying to finish their tour with a bang, and Harris is leading a team that has seen a lot of changes.
Alongside the seasoned prop in the front row are hooker Andre-Hugo Venter and tighthead Lee-Marvin Mazibuko.
Starting with Ruben van Heerden in the second row, Adre Smith will be flanked by Nama Xaba and Marcel Theunissen.
The only other changes to the backline are Clayton Blommetjies at fullback and Courtnall Skosan on the right wing. Stefan Ungerer starts his first game of the season at scrumhalf.
Utility forward Hendre Stassen is scheduled to make his DHL Stormers debut, while hooker Scarra Ntubeni and lock Connor Evans, who were not included in the matchday squad last week, are on the replacements bench.
John Dobson, the head coach of the Stormers, stated that his group is committed to capping their tour in Cardiff.
We can’t wait to watch how this week’s new players perform. This is a big game for us, and it has been a long tour.
“This team will be giving it their all to win, despite some injury disruptions to the squad. Players like Gary Porter, Joseph Dweba, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, and Angelo Davids are all out of the lineup for this game.
He remarked, “We are excited to take on the big challenge that awaits us at Cardiff Arms Park, even though we are aware of it.”
Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Brok Harris (captain).
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Hendre Stassen, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Warrick Gelant.
Date: Friday, November 24
Venue: Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off: 19.35 (19.35 GMT; 21.35 SA Time)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Dewi Phillips (Wales) and Carwyn Williams (Wales)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland )
