Stormers lose their captain as Senatla gets bench role

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Hooker Joseph Dweba and loose forward Willie Engelbrecht will both play their 50th match for the Stormers in the Champions Cup clash with RC Toulon in Gqeberha on Saturday.

The Round One encounter is the first-ever Champions Cup match in the friendly city.

Prop Neethling Fouche will captain the Stormers in the absence of the injured Dan du Plessis, whose place at inside centre is filled by his cousin Jean-Luc du Plessis.

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Engelbrecht will pack down at the back of the scrum, with Keke Morabe and Ben-Jason Dixon on the flanks.

Paul de Wet will partner Manie Libbok at halfback, with Seabelo Senatla set to make his long-awaited return from the replacements bench.

Director of Rugby John Dobson said that his team is looking forward to what should be a special occasion in Gqeberha.

“The Eastern Cape is one of the heartlands of rugby in South Africa, so we are very excited to be bringing Champions Cup action to the people.

“We know that we will get passionate support from the locals and will be looking to harness that to make a positive start to the tournament.

“RC Toulon have a great pedigree in this competition and we want to rise to the challenge,” he said.

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Keke Morabe, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Seabelo Senatla.

Date: Saturday, December 7
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
Kick-off: 17.15 SAST (16.15 CET; 15.15 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (England), John Meredith (England)
TMO: Dean Richards (England)