The Stormers have named a matchday squad for their Super Saturday clash with the Lions that includes seven Springboks in the starting XV.
The arrival of Warrick Gelant brings to three the number of Springboks in the back division as he joins Green and Gold teammates Herschel Jantjies and Damian Willemse who start as halfbacks.
Dobson names squad to face the Lions
The forward pack includes four Springboks with Bongi Mbonambi the only capped international on the bench.
Blitzboks legend Seabelo Senatla takes up his place on the left wing opposite Leolin Zas who has also returned to Cape Town.
The Stormers made a decent start to the Super Rugby season despite injuries to their big names and will want to pick up where they left off.
“It has been a while for everyone, players coaches and our fans are all hungry for rugby, so we cannot wait to get there and take the next step as we build towards the new competition which kicks off next month,” said coach John Dobson.
“Everyone has worked very hard to get to this point and while it will be great to see our high-profile players out on the pitch, we are also looking forward to seeing some new faces and seeing how they go against a quality Lions side,” he said.
The Stormers sport a promising young lock trio with JD Schickerling partnering Salmaan Moerat while experienced second-row Chris van Zyl is on the bench.
Siya Kolisi returns to lead the Stormers having limped off early in the Super Rugby campaign after a late hit by the Hurricanes hooker Ricky Riccitelli in a match in Cape Town.
Frans Malherbe, Scarra Ntubeni and Steven Kitshoff make up an all-Springbok front row for the Western Cape side who face a Lions team who couldn’t get going in the short and ultimately unfinished Super Rugby campaign.
Stormers team for Super Saturday
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Leolin Zas, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Hannes Gouws, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Tim Swiel, 24 Michal Hazner, 25 Angelo Davids, 26 Tristan Leyds.
