Tondie Returns for Stormers

Tonderai Chavhanga will start in place of the injured Gcobani Bobo while Andries Bekker will also miss the Chiefs clash.

Bobo went into last week’s game against the Highlanders with an ankle injury and the Stormers’ management have opted to give him a break this Saturday.

Chavhanga was always expected to be back on the wing, but Bobo’s injury means Peter Grant and Dylan des Fountain will remain in midfield, while Willem de Waal will keep his place at flyhalf. Ricky Januarie is confined to the bench with Dewaldt Duvenhage playing some great rugby at No 9.

Captain Jean de Villiers will be out with a groin injury until the Cheetahs match in round 14. Schalk Burger will continue to lead the Stormers in De Villiers’s absence.

Bekker, who picked up a rib injury against the Highlanders, won’t play against the Chiefs but should be back to face the Force next week. Hilton Lobberts will start alongside AJ Venter in the second row with young UCT lock Martin Muller playing from the bench. Prop Brian Mujati will miss out because of concussion.

‘AJ’s had a lot of rugby and is just battling a knee injury at the moment, so he didn’t train [on Wednesday],’ Rassie Erasmus told keo.co.za. ‘It’s a bit of a problem that we have so many locks out injured. Adriaan Fondse won’t be back this season and George Earle is also injured. That’s why we’ve called up Martin Muller.

‘We’re hoping AJ recovers fully before the weekend. It was never my intention to play AJ and Hilton together, but because of injuries we’ve had to.

‘I think Hilton has improved a great deal since he’s switched from flank to lock. It’s always been our plan to phase him in slowly.’

Both Erasmus and Burger agreed that helping the Sharks and Bulls qualify for the play-offs is one of their goals, but not a priority. They’d do the two teams a favour by beating the Chiefs this Saturday and by beating the Force next week.

‘If we help them it’s really just a spin off,’ said Erasmus. ‘Our primary aim is to win and keep progressing. If we can help the Sharks and Bulls, that’s great, but we really want to win well in the remaining matches.’

Stormers – 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Dylan des Fountain, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Sireli Naqelevuki, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 8 Luke Watson, 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 AJ Venter, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 JD Moller.
Subs: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Wicus Blaauw, 18 Martin Muller, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Morgan Newman, 22 Tiger Bax.