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Stormers close to full strength as they prepare to lay a trap for the Shark

Liam Del Carme Sports reporter
Pieter-Steph du Toit of the Stormers during the PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA match between DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls at Cape Town Stadium on May 08, 2021 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Pieter-Steph du Toit of the Stormers during the PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA match between DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls at Cape Town Stadium on May 08, 2021 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Image: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

The Stormers' engine room will be purring close to full capacity when they take on the Sharks in their Rainbow Cup SA encounter in Durban on Saturday.

In recent weeks their lock stock has looked depleted with Salmaan Moerat‚ JD Schickerling and Marvin Orie all spending time on the sideline through injury.

Moerat is still on the sidelines‚ with the Stormers cautiously going about his rehab from a neck injury he sustained in training earlier in the season.

Schickerling (ankle) and Orie (concussion) are back in the starting team for Saturday's match‚ while star flank Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ who is equally effective in the second row‚ also returns after he was rested for last weekend's clash against the Lions at Ellis Park.

He is back in the loose trio that contains Willie Engelbrecht and Evan Roos.

In addition Ruhan Nel returns to the midfield having been on Sevens duty last week. Dan du Plessis‚ one of the heroes from their win at Ellis Park makes way by dropping to the bench.

Flyhalf Abner van Reenen‚ who picked up a shoulder niggle against the Bulls and left the field the early with the same complaint against the Lions was regarded fit for selection.

Stormers head coach John Dobson said his team's emphasis this weekend will be to stick to their play book. “We want to make the best use of the opportunities that we create‚ which means that we must be focused and as accurate as possible in everything that we do.

“All of the players coming in this week have played a role in this campaign already and we are looking forward to a cohesive team performance‚” he said.

The Stormers‚ after defeat in the opening two rounds‚ could play themselves back into Rainbow Cup contention should beat the Sharks. They will be particularly keen to avenge their defeat to the Sharks in the opening round in Cape Town where they dominated match but ended up losing it‚ partly due to two players copping red cards.

Stormers - Damian Willemse; Sergeal Petersen‚ Ruhan Nel‚ Rikus Pretorius‚ Edwill van der Merwe; Abner van Reenen‚ Herschel Jantjies; Evan Roos‚ Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ Willie Engelbrecht‚; Marvin Orie‚ JD Schickerling; Frans Malherbe‚ Bongi Mbonambi‚ Steven Kitshoff (captain). Substitutes: Scarra Ntubeni‚ Ali Vermaak‚ Neethling Fouche‚ Ernst van Rhyn‚ Adre Smith‚ Juarno Augustus; Paul de Wet‚ Tim Swiel‚ Marcel Theunissen‚ Dan du Plessis.