Cape Town – Deon Fourie (pictured above) will make his much anticipated return from injury and will captain the DHL Stormers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship against the Emirates Lions at the DHL Stadium on Saturday.
The 38-year-old World Cup winner will skipper the side instead of Springbok captain Salmaan Moerat, who will earn his 50th cap in the South African derby which kicks off at 15:45 in the shadow of Table Mountain.
Salmaan Moerat will earn his 50th cap for the Stormers. Photo: 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.
Director of Rugby John 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.
“These festive derbies are big occasions and we will need to step up against a very competitive Emirates Lions team.
“This will be just our second match at DHL Stadium this season and we know that it will require a big performance to get the result that we need,” he said.
DHL 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.
