Stormers to unleash Dweba against Scots

SPRINGBOK hooker Joseph Dweba will make his Stormers debut in their United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh at Cape Town Stadium today (2pm kick-off).

The hooker is one of six changes to the team that defeated Connacht in their season-opening game in Stellenbosch last weekend.

The defending champions have also been boosted by Springboks Damian Willemse, Deon Fourie and Salmaan Moerat, while Herschel Jantjies will feature from the replacements bench.

Bok lock Marvin Orie will take over the captaincy for the round three clash against the Scottish side.

Coach John Dobson opted for two positional switches in the backline, with Dan du Plessis starting at outside centre and Suleiman Hartzenberg shifting to the wing in place of the injured Seabelo Senatla, while

Neethling Fouche comes in at tighthead prop up front.

Dobson said the team is looking forward to their first match at Cape Town Stadium since their URC Grand Final match against the Bulls last season.

“It is great to have a few of our top players back from national duty and they have all slotted in seamlessly this week.

“We are all looking forward to getting out there at Cape Town Stadium in an early game which should be a great occasion for everyone,” he said.

Edinburgh coach Mike Blair, meanwhile, hopes to see his team bounce back from their 31-33 loss to the Bulls.

“After a really physical match against the Bulls, we’ve returned to Cape Town where we’ve had a great week of training, with the squad fully focused for another massive test against last season’s champions,” said Blair.

“We obviously met the Stormers in Cape Town in last year’s quarter-final,

so we know just how good they are – especially at home – but we’re playing with confidence and our squad will be fired up to improve on last weekend’s performance.”

STORMERS:

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman

Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie (captain), 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.

Replacements:

16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Ernst van Rhyn, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Sacha Mngomezulu.

EDINBURGH:

15 Henry Immelman, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 James Lang, 11 Damien Hoyland, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9

Ben Vellacott, 8 Nick Haining, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie (co-captain), 5 Grant Gilchrist (co-captain), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Pierre Schoeman.

Replacements:

16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18

Luan de Bruin, 19 Glen Young, 20 Ben Muncaster, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Chris Dean.