Dobson brings in new captain for Cardiff showdown
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Prop Brok Harris will captain the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship match against Cardiff on Friday, which will see him bring up 400 senior professional caps.
The Stormers end their four-match tour at Arms Park on Friday night.
They will be led out by Harris, who has 135 Stormers caps, to go with over 100 for both Western Province and the Dragons. He will go level with Steven Kitshoff as the most-capped Stormers player on Friday night.
Harris leads a team which features a host of changes as the Stormers look to end their tour on a high.
The experienced prop is joined in the front row by tighthead Lee-Marvin Mazibuko and hooker Andre-Hugo Venter.
Adre Smith starts in the second row alongside Ruben van Heerden, while Nama Xaba and Marcel Theunissen will be on the flanks.
Stefan Ungerer makes his first start of the season at scrumhalf, while Courtnall Skosan is on the right wing and Clayton Blommetjies is at fullback in the only other changes to the backline.
The replacements bench features hooker Scarra Ntubeni and lock Connor Evans, who were not part of the matchday squad last week, while utility forward Hendre Stassen is set to make his DHL Stormers debut.
Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that his team is determined to end their tour on a high in Cardiff.
“We are really excited to see how the players coming in go this week. It has been a long tour and this is a crucial game for us.
“There have been some injury disruptions to the squad with the likes of Gary Porter, Joseph Dweba, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon and Angelo Davids all unavailable for this match, but this team will be going all-out to get the win.
“We know that we face a big challenge at Cardiff Arms Park, but it is one we are looking forward to taking on,” he said.
Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Brok Harris (captain).
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Hendre Stassen, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Warrick Gelant.
Date: Friday, November 24
Venue: Arms Park, Cardiff
Kick-off: 19.35 (19.35 GMT; 21.35 SA Time)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Dewi Phillips (Wales) and Carwyn Williams (Wales)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland )
#⃣WATCH as @THESTORMERS assistant coach Dawie Snyman and centre Ruhan Nel chat to @king365ed about their @URCOfficial Round Six encounter with @Cardiff_Rugby 📹#Rugby 🏉#RugbyUnion🌏
🔗https://t.co/7Sw4orlShn pic.twitter.com/2cKm6qqRYz— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) November 23, 2023
