URC: Salmaan Moerat reaches 50 as Stormers host Lions

URC: Salmaan Moerat reaches 50 as Stormers host Lions

Lock Salmaan Moerat will earn his 50th cap for the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship encounter with the Lions at DHL Stadium on Saturday.

Deon Fourie makes his return from injury and will captain the team in the South African derby, which kicks off at 15h45 on Saturday.

Springboks Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ben-Jason Dixon have all recovered from recent concussions to take their place in a starting line-up which will also feature tighthead prop Frans Malherbe.

Director of Rugby John Dobson said that having five Springboks return from injury is a timely boost ahead of such a big game.

"We welcome back some real quality into our team this week and there has been a sense of focused determination within the group," Dobson told the Stormers' website.

"These festive derbies are big occasions and we will need to step up against a very competitive Lions team.

"This will be just our second match at DHL Stadium this season and we know that it will require a big performance to get the result that we need," he said.

Stormers - 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.

Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.

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