Moerat benched as Fourie leads Stormers against Leinster
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Experienced flank Deon Fourie will lead the Stormers in their Round 10 United Rugby Championship encounter with Leinster in Dublin on Saturday night.
Regular captain Salmaan Moerat will provide impact from the replacements bench along with the likes of fellow Springboks Frans Malherbe and Herschel Jantjies, as JD Schickerling comes at lock in a rotational switch.
Fourie is joined by Ben-Jason Dixon and Evan Roos in a powerful loose trio, while the only other change to the starting pack sees the experienced Ali Vermaak come in at loosehead prop.
Paul de Wet and Manie Libbok will pull the strings at halfback for the visitors, with the talented Jonathan Roche linking up with Ruhan Nel as the centres.
Warrick Gelant is joined by Ben Loader and a fit-again Leolin Zas in the back three, with Wandisile Simelane alongside Jantjies on the replacements bench.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that nothing less than his team’s best will be good enough to get the result required.
“Leinster’s record and reputation speak for themselves and we know that it will take a huge effort to come away with a win at Lansdowne Road.
“There are several players coming into the mix that did not feature last week and we are looking to them to make a big impact for us.
“There are also some rotations such as in the second row, with Salmaan [Moerat] set to take over the leadership in the second half after playing a full 80 minutes in Paris last week.
“It has been a good week of preparation here and we are ready to give this one a full go to build on the encouraging derby wins at the end of last year and keep climbing the standings,” he said.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
Date: Saturday, January 25
Venue: Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Kick-off: 17.00 (19.00 SA time; 17.00 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Chris Busby (Ireland), Jonathan Erskine (Ireland)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
