‘Team man’ Malherbe boosts Stormers

TIGHTHEAD prop Frans Malherbe will become the most-capped Stormers player when he returns to the side for their United Rugby Championship clash against Cardiff tonight.

The Stormers’ third and final match of their overseas tour, which kicks off at 8.35pm, will see the Springbok front-rower reach 124 appearances for the Cape side.

Malherbe will form an all-Bok front row alongside Steven Kitshoff – who will bag his 122nd Stormers cap – and Joseph Dweba.

Kwenzo Blose, JJ Kotze and Brok Harris will provide front-row back-up on bench, and in the second row, Adre Smith starts alongside Marvin Orie, with Ernst van Rhyn taking over the captaincy and starting at blindside flank, with Nama Xaba and Hacjivah Dayimani completing the loose trio.

There are two changes to the backline, with scrumhalf Godlen Masimla and wing Suleiman Hartzenberg coming into the starting line-up.

On the bench, Paul de Wet and Sacha Mngomezulu will offer reinforcement. Ben-Jason Dixon, Willie Engelbrecht and Junior Pokomela are all in line to bring second-half impact.

While Stormers coach John Dobson zoomed in on Malherbe’s achievement, he also praised the man’s character.

“What Frans has achieved at the age of just 31 is incredible, if you think about some of the players who represented this team before him.

“He is a great example of a team man and just his presence in the squad this week has given us a lift,” Dobson said.

“We are looking forward to seeing how some of our combinations develop and the way the team responds at what is a renowned rugby venue against a home team with some momentum,” he said.

Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young said they were looking forward to the Stormers challenge.

“They are a quality outfit, the reigning champions, and you only have to look at their 16-game unbeaten run to appreciate how good they are.

“We will need to be at our best, but we are at our home ground where we get brilliant support and we are on the back of two Welsh derby wins. This will be another step up, and we have some more injuries, but it’s a challenge we are relishing and it will show us where we are as a team.

“We need to front up physically to match them and make sure we do not give a very dangerous back-three opportunities. That means being really accurate on both sides of the ball, being disciplined