Kick-off at DHL Newlands is at 15h05 and the visitors from Dunedin will be looking to continue their trend of starting matches with their tails up this season.
The Highlanders have scored 14 tries in the opening quarter of their Vodacom Super Rugby matches this year, more than any other team in the competition and nearly three times as many as the DHL Stormers (5).
But will it be that easy at DHL Newlands?
Saturday will be the Highlanders’ first visit to Cape Town in more than five years, and although they have arrived in the Mother City on the back of three wins from their last three matches against the DHL Stormers, all of those were played in Dunedin.
The picture at DHL Newlands is vastly different though – the DHL Stormers have won their last four home games against the men from Otago, whose last victory in the shadow of Table Mountain was way back in 2006.
To add a little bit of insult to injury for the Highlanders, they have apparently struggled on the road this year and have won only two of their seven away matches thus far in 2019, against the Chiefs in Hamilton and the Sunwolves in Tokyo.
DHL Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has made only one change to his starting team for this clash. Scarra Ntubeni will start at hooker in place of the injured Bongi Mbonambi, with Chad Solomon set to make his DHL Stormers debut from the replacements bench.
The only other change is among the replacements as a fit-again Wilco Louw comes back into the match-day squad.
What they said:
DHL Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck said they are looking forward to playing at DHL Newlands again: “The atmosphere last week was incredible and the players can’t wait to get out there again and play in front of our fans. We want to keep building and improving as we approach the end of the season and this match will be another important step forward for us.”
Teams:
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Josh Stander, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Jaco Coetzee, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Cobus Wiese, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Kobus van Dyk, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Dan Kriel.
Highlanders: 15 Matt Faddes, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Rob Thompson, 12 Patelesio Tomkinson, 11 Jordan Hyland, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Elliot Dixon, 7 James Lentjes, 6 Luke Whitelock (captain), 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Pari Pari Parkinson, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown. Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Ayden Johnstone, 18 Siate Tokolahi, 19 Josh Dickson, 20 Shannon Frizell, 21 Kayne Hammington, 22 Marty Banks, 23 Thomas Umaga-Jensen.
Head to head:
Played: 21
DHL Stormers won: 8
Highlanders won: 12
Draw: 1
DHL Stormers points: 455
Highlanders points: 568
Average score: 22-27
Match information:
Date: Saturday, 25 May 2019
SA time: 15h05
Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Referee: Nic Berry
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Divan Uys
Television Match Official: Willie Vos
TV: SuperSport1
