Stormers assemble most of their stalwarts for Lions

Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck named a 30-man squad on Thursday afternoon for his team’s Super Rugby pre-season friendly against the Lions at Newlands on Saturday.

The match, which kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, will be the final warm-up match for Fleck’s team before their Super Rugby opener against the Bulls at Newlands on February 25.

It will also be the first chance for the Newlands Faithful to see their team in action following pre-season victories against the Cheetahs in Zimbabwe and the South Western District Eagles in George.

Fleck said on his team’s website that the players are looking forward to running out in front of their supporters at Newlands.

“It is always special to play at Newlands and after a tough pre-season the players are excited to play in front of our fans,” he said.

The Stormers head coach added that the match will be a valuable indicator of where his squad is at two weeks out from the start of their campaign.

“We have worked hard over the past couple of months, so we want to put that into practice against the Lions who were one of the form teams in the competition last year.

“It will be important for us to look at certain combinations and make sure that everyone has some good gametime under their belts before the season gets underway,” he said.

Stormers squad: Juarno Augustus, Nizaam Carr, Jaco Coetzee, Juan de Jongh, Dan du Plessis, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Rob du Preez, Dewaldt Duvenage, Rynhardt Elstadt, JC Janse van Rensburg, Cheslin Kolbe, Siya Kolisi, Dan Kriel, Dillyn Leyds, Wilco Louw, Frans Malherbe, SP Marais, Bongi Mbonambi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Caylib Oosthuizen, Ramone Samuels, JD Shickerling, Chris van Zyl, Jano Vermaak, EW Viljoen, Cobus Wiese, Damian Willemse, Eduard Zandberg, Leolin Zas.

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