Boks aplenty in Stormers' star-studded side for Connacht clash

By SABC Sport
17th April 2026

There are no fewer than ten Springboks in the Stormers starting line-up to face Connacht in the United Rugby Championship at DHL Stadium on Saturday.

The encounter with the Irish side kicks off at 13:45 on Saturday, with the Stormers XXIII in action against the Bulls XV directly afterwards.

The double-header at DHL Stadium will also see the club and their fans pay tribute to legendary team manager Chippie Solomon, following his sudden passing last week.

The Stormers are currently in second position on the URC standings and could secure their place in the play-offs should results go their way this weekend. The club also require 45 000 fans across their last two home games to break the league's record for attendance in the regular season.

Up front, hooker Scarra Ntubeni is joined by props Zachary Porthen and Ntuthuko Mchunu in an all-Bok front row. Ntubeni will retire at the end of the season after 15 years as a Stormer.

JD Schickerling and Adre Smith continue as the lock pairing, with a fit-again Ruben van Heerden featuring on the replacements bench this week.

The loose forwards are also all Springboks, with Evan Roos joined by flanks Deon Fourie and Ben-Jason Dixon.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will start at flyhalf this weekend and link up with scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, in the only change to the backline that did duty in the narrow loss to Toulon in the Investec Champions Cup knock-out match a fortnight ago.

There is also plenty of quality on the replacements bench as Van Heerden is joined by forwards Andre-Hugo Venter, Oli Kebble, Neethling Fouche, Marcel Theunissen and Paul de Villiers, while Stefan Ungere and Wandisile Simelane will provide backline cover.

Director of Rugby John Dobson said that it will be a significant game for various reasons.

"Everyone at the club would like to celebrate Chippie's life and make this a special occasion to pay our respects to someone who meant so much to us, but we will not let that distract us from the task on the field," he told the Stormers' website.

"This is a crucial game in the context of our season, and we face a strong Connacht team that will be playing to keep their play-off hopes alive. It will require a focused and clinical performance from us as we aim to take a step closer to securing home advantage in the knock-out phase of the season."

Stormers - 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Damian Willemse, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Wandisile Simelane.