Fourie to lead Stormers against Leinster, Moerat to play off bench

Springbok World Cup winning hooker Deon Fourie will captain the Stormers from flank when the Cape-based team take on Leinster in a United Rugby Championship match in Dublin on Saturday, with kick-off at 7pm.

With regular captain Salmaan Moerat relegated to the bench, the Stormers’ second row will consist of JD Schickerling and Ruben van Heerden.

The versatile Fourie, who’ll wear the No 6 jersey, will be joined in the back row by fellow Boks Ben-Jason Dixon and Evan Roos.

Paul de Wet and Manie Libbok are the halfback pairing while young Jonathan Roche retains his place in the team, in midfield, alongside Ruhan Nel.

Warrick Gelant is joined by Ben Loader and a fit-again Leolin Zas in the back three.

‘Leinster’s reputation’

In all there are 11 Springboks in the matchday 23. Leinster lead the URC log with nine wins from nine matches and have former Bok coach Jacques Nienaber in their coaching team.

The Stormers are currently in 10th position on the URC log, with four wins from eight matches.

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 the Aviva Stadium.

“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 set to take over the leadership in the second half after playing a full 80 minutes in Paris last week.”

Stormers: Warrick Gelant, Ben Loader, Ruhan Nel, Jonathan Roche, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Paul de Wet, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Deon Fourie (capt), Ruben van Heerden, JD Schickerling, Neethling Fouché, Joseph Dweba, Ali Vermaak. Bench: André-Hugo Venter, Brok Harris, Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Villiers, Herschel Jantjies, Wandisile Simelane.