Rugby
Van Heerden set for 50th Stormers cap─── MORGAN PIEK 11:03 Fri, 18 Apr 2025
The lock Ruben van Heerden is set to reach a milestone 50th cap for the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship clash against Connacht at the Cape Town Stadium in the Mother City on Saturday.
The Stormers franchise embarks on an important block of four consecutive home fixtures to conclude the league phase of the season, commencing with the clash against the Irish team from Galway.
The Stormers received a significant boost with the return of outside backs Warrick Gelant and Seabelo Senatla from injury. This sees Damian Willemse slotting into the midfield to form a partnership with Dan du Plessis. The only change to the starting backline sees Stefan Ungerer taking his place at scrumhalf.
Upfront there are two changes in the front row - André-Hugo Venter will pack down at hooker, and Sazi Sandi steps in at tighthead prop in place of the suspended Neethling Fouché. Frans Malherbe remains unavailable due to injury.
The captain Salmaan Moerat makes his comeback from a minor foot injury to resume his position in the second row alongside the milestone man, Van Heerden. Meanwhile, Paul de Villiers is set to make his first start at openside flank.
The replacements bench includes the return of lock JD Schickerling from injury and features seasoned campaigners Brok Harris, Deon Fourie, Paul de Wet, and Ben Loader. Loosehead prop Vernon Matongo is in line to make his debut URC appearance.
Stormers coach John Dobson expressed his team’s eagerness to perform in front of their home support once more.
“It has been over two months since we last played in Cape Town, and there is considerable excitement within the squad to showcase what they can achieve on Saturday,” Dobson stated.
“We welcome back several key players, and the preparation has been positive. We are acutely aware of the significance of this upcoming block of home games in the context of our season and are determined to deliver performances that will make our supporters proud,” he added.
Saturday’s URC match between the Stormers and Connacht at the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point is scheduled to kick off at 16:00.
Stormers - 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements - 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Brok Harris, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Louw Nel, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Ben Loader
Connacht - TBA
