Stormers surprise with captain against Lions

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Stormers Director of Rugby of Rugby John Dobson surprised with his choice of captain for the United Rugby Championship Round Eight encounter with the Lions on Saturday.

Deon Fourie makes his return from injury and will captain the team in the South African derby in Cape Town.

Springbok lock Salmaan Moerat will earn his 50th cap for the Stormers.

Springboks Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ben-Jason Dixon have all recovered from recent concussions to take their place in a starting line-up which will also feature tighthead prop Frans Malherbe.

Dobson said that having five Springboks return from injury is a timely boost ahead of such a big game.

“We welcome back some real quality into our team this week and there has been a sense of focused determination within the group,” Dobson said.

“These festive derbies are big occasions and we will need to step up against a very competitive Lions team.

“This will be just our second match at Stadium this season and we know that it will require a big performance to get the result that we need,” he added.

Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Adré Smith, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.

Date: Saturday, December 21
Venue: Cape Town Stadium
Kick-off: 15,45 (13.45 GMT)
Referee: Christopher Allison (South Africa)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)