Dobson eyes more improvement against the Ospreys

THE Stormers have made four changes to their starting line-up for their United Rugby Championship fixture against Ospreys at Cape Town Stadium today.

After beating Ulster 23-20 last week, the home side will be looking to make it five consecutive home wins when they take on the Welsh outfit at 6.15pm.

There are two changes to the backline and two in the forward pack.

Fullback Warrick Gelant will sit this one out as a precautionary measure due to a thumb injury. Damian Willemse, who has been running out at inside centre and producing solid outings in midfield, will take Gelant’s place at 15, with Rikus Pretorius coming in at 12.

Ernst van Rhyn – who picked up an elbow injury during training this week – has also been ruled out. This sees Hacjivah Dayimani start at blindside flank, with the final change coming on the other side of the scrum where Junior Pokomela comes into the starting line-up.

There are also three new faces on the bench, with Ali Vermaak, Ben-Jason Dixon and Sergeal Petersen all in line to get some game time with the top-ranked South African team in the competition.

After three straight home wins against Ulster, Zebre Parma, and Cardiff Blues, Stormers coach John Dobson said that his team aims to build more winning momentum against Ospreys.

“We have been pleased with our results recently, but we know there is still much we can improve in our game and hopefully we can take another step forward on Saturday.

“It is another great opportunity for us to play in front of our faithful supporters and we are expecting a real test from the Ospreys, who have a number of Test players in their ranks,” he said.

The Stormers will take on the Bulls at Cape Town Stadium after their meeting with the Welsh side. Following that, they have a bye, before taking on Glasgow and Leinster. The two fixtures will conclude the Capetonians’ home leg of the competition as the business end of the URC approaches.

STORMERS TEAM:

15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).

Bench:

16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Ben-Jason Dixon, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Sergeal Petersen.

SHAUN ROY BackpagePix HACJIVAH Dayimani will start at blindside for the Stormers today. |