Jean de Villiers will captain a strong Stormers side against the Lions this weekend, containing numerous Boks in the pack. The three-quarter line, though, has a rather youthful look to it after injury and European exodus have conspired to remove a number of former stalwarts from the line-up.
Michael van der Spuy and Kobus van Wyk will debut at outside centre and right wing respectively, while another regular centre, Damian de Allende, will wear the number 11 jersey. With Demetri Catrikilis starting for the first time in Super Rugby for the Stormers (having represented the Kings last year), only scrumhalf Louis Schreuder and fullback Gio Aplon join de Villiers in having played for the Stormers before.
An all-Bok back row, featuring Schalk Burger at blindside, along with Siya Kolisi and Duane Vermeulen, appears the side’s major strength. Manuel Carizza makes his Stormers debut alongside Rynhardt Esltadt in the second row, while the men in 1,2 and 3 are no strangers to this competition, or each other.
Ollie Kebble and Ryno Eksteen are the uncapped men on a bench which otherwise looks settled.
Stormers: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Michael van der Spuy, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Damian de Allende, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Oliver Kebble, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Ryno Eksteen.
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Definitely favourites to put a cricket score past the lions. 😈
Whose playing right win Howard or Van Wyk? Some good players but very untested combos. They have strong leaders in DeVilliers,Burger, Vermuelen and Kolisi but i think they hope Catrakilis fires or eish
@FireTheLooser (Comment 1) : Is Pat Howard in the team? the team sheet lists 14 Kobus van Wyk! 😕
Looks to be a bit thin out wide compared to the Front Runners of the competition ( 😈 ), but their loose 3 + Die Kat should keep them in contention . . .
Pat Howard has not even made the Stormers S15 squad, that is how useless Coetzee is as a coach
@Saffex (Comment 5) : Hey, who`s side are you on?
My apologies to Coetzee, Howard is sidelined with a hamstring injury!!
@Original Pierre (Comment 6) : No side bud, I live in the UK, was originally from the East Cape, so have no affiliation to any SA side……I like them all
A good side – but not as strong as the one that won the Currie Cup semi final against the Lions in Cape Town last year – Etsebeth in particular will be missed. I certainly expect the Stormers to win but I don’t think that it is going to be as easy as some seem to think in Jhb. As an aside I heard that as of this morning they had sold 38 000 tickets for Ellis Park for the game.
This will be very competitive, I agree, especially since the Lions have their tails up. Not going to put money on the result 😉
Once again, Oom Schalk Burger is basking in the hype. I thought he was pretty crap during the Currie Cup. Keo has him back for the Tri-Nations. I guess we’ll see…
The wings seem very untested. If I were Boshoff, I’d ping them with some highballs.
@steve (Comment 9) : That’s not a bad turnout for Ellis Park!
@Greg (Comment 10) : Or LMS picks in my case. The Lions surprised me last week.
@The Great Couch Shark (Comment 12) : The problem with Ellis Park is that even with 40 000 people it still looks half empty!
Notwithstanding the location the atmosphere in the ground is electric when it’s full for a test match or a game like the CC final a few years ago.
@Saffex (Comment 7) : Seems like there are already far too many injuries for this early in the season!
AT ROB: Hey Rob, could you do a ‘Who’s injured’ article. I’m interested to see who is out from the various teams. I’ve already lost Sam Cane for this week in my fantasy league team and the Chiefs haven’t played yet!
@Saffex (Comment 8) : How very un-South African of you 😈
Good thing we still have unlimited changes on Justrugby until Friday morning right . . . Right? 😯
@vanmartin (Comment 13) : My local bookie has both teams at even odds so make of that what you will 😛
@Greg (Comment 18) : I can get Lions + 9 at even odds . .
Possible Multiple :
Crusaders, Cheetahs, Brumbies, Lions +9, Tahs @ 8.74 . . . 😈
@Greg (Comment 18) : will be close but the stormers are still clear favorites, Ek vertrou bookies net so ver as wat Ek hulle sien
Lions +9 might be pushing it a bit 😆 I like them for a straight win though. Almost included the Cheetahs in a double last weekend but thank goodness decided against!
@Greg (Comment 21) : No, what it means on Sportsbet is, stormers can win, as long as it`s by less than 9, I still win.
Found an even more tempting one as well, if you back the Chiefs in stead of the Crusaders and add Blues, Brumbies, Tahs, as well as Sharks -12 and of course the risky Lions + 9 you can get more than 30 odds!
@Original Pierre (Comment 22) : Ah, so a 9 point spread in the Stormers favour then 😉
An even better bet, not relying on a complex string of results going your way, is on the bulls to beat the cheetahs. They’ve never lost to them in super rugby and are paying 1.5 something 😛
@Greg (Comment 23) : I reckon those odds will come down now that Spies has withdrawn . . . 😈
@Original Pierre (Comment 24) : you may be right about that
What happened to Peter Grant?
@David12246 (Comment 26) : Playing his rugby exclusively in Japan I think
Why on earth have the Stormers got two flyhalves on the bench in Coleman and Eksteen????
@David12246 (Comment 26) : I think he might join them later in the year.
Speaking of linking up later . . . Any news on JP ?
still feels like the season is stalling and hasnt rolled out properly. Feels like i am still waiting on the first game here.