No Damian Willemse, but Stormers can still slay Dragons in Wales

No Damian Willemse, but Stormers can still slay Dragons in Wales

The Stormers will be close to full strength for their United Rugby Championship encounter with the Dragons in Newport tonight – but will miss Springbok star Damian Willemse, who is not playing because of a family commitment.

Otherwise, they are a potent bunch and welcome back Angelo Davids, Sti Sithole and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for the 8.35pm kick-off (SA time) at Rodney Parade.

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 that 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 pack sees Willie Engelbrecht included on the side of the scrum.

Assistant coach Dawie Snyman said the Stormers are shaping up nicely as they tackle the business end of the tournament.

“Yes, this is close to our strongest team and that is great, because we have to get the result and we want to build a bit of cohesion going into these last few games,” Snyman said from Newport yesterday.

“Damian had a personal matter he had to attend to, and he only joined the team today. We can only select guys who are available to train during the week, but he will be available for the Connacht game next week.

“We are fortunate in that last week was a week off (while the European Cup tournaments were under way), and that helped in that we just needed to do a few touch-ups on Monday.

“Since then, it has been more about travelling and recovering, and getting ourselves ready for the game.”

Interestingly, the Dragons would have been getting some intelligence on the Stormers this week from a player that was once part of their greater squad.

Chris Hollis is likely to start at left wing for the Dragons.

“Chris was in our system for three years and is a good professional,” Snyman said.

“He never played URC for us, but played a few warm-up games and a few Currie Cup games. He will bring physicality. He was a centre for us, but I see he is playing wing now.

“He will have inside info in terms of how we work. I am not sure if that will benefit them.

“We all like Chris, and he is good friends with lots of the guys but you know how it is: it is this kind of game against players you know well that you put your biggest effort into.”

Hollis played centre for Griquas, and Snyman said his solid build would make him effective in the heavy underfoot conditions in Wales.

Snyman added that the return of Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a big boost.

“He brings a lot of energy and excitement. It is good to have him at this important part of the season, and although he is only on the bench this week, (he) will have an important role to play.”

Snyman said the players returning from injury will be match-ready.

“We have been training at high standards. They will be ready. JL (Jean-Luc du Plessis, who hasn’t played since Christmas) is a very competitive guy and has been training as well as he ever has.

“If we are in a crunch situation late in the game, it will be good to have him on the field.”

Stormers Team

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 (captain) 3 Frans Malherbe 2 Joseph Dweba 1 Sti Sithole.

Bench: 16 André-Hugo Venter 17 Brok Harris 18 Neethling Fouché 19 Adré Smith 20 Hacjivah Dayimani 21 Stefan Ungerer 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.