Both Evan Roos and Duane Vermeulen have been selected to start for their respective teams, the Stormers and Ulster, in the URC on Friday.
Ulster will host the Stormers in Belfast in what is building up to be a pivotal United Rugby Championship match for a variety of reasons, including the fact that it will put South Africa’s two top No. 8s against each other.
Vermeulen vs Roos. Master versus apprentice.
John Dobson, the head coach of the Stormers, made eleven changes to his starting team that would face Ulster. Several of these substitutions were made due to the mandatory rest periods for particular Springboks.
Ali Vermaak makes his 50th cap for the Stormers, while veteran replacements Scarra Ntubeni and Juan de Jongh return from injuries.
At fullback, Damian Willemse is replaced by Clayton Blommetjies while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu replaces Dan du Plessis at the inside centre. Cornel Smit replaces Angelo Davids on the wing while Jean-Luc du Plessis returns to the starting lineup to replace Kade Wolhuter at flyhalf.
Up front, Roos returns to the starting XV at number eight for the Stormers while Junior Pokomela replaces Deon Fourie on the side of the scrum. Ben-Jason Dixon replaces Connor Evans at lock while Brok Harris, JJ Kotze and Ali Vermaak is the new front row.
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DUANE BOOSTS ULSTER’s Current No. 8 Springbok Duane Vermeulen has gained selection for Ulster and will thus come up against his former team from the Cape.
The selection of Vermeulen sets up an enticing battle between him and Roos. The match-up could well serve as an audition for the No 8 Springbok jersey in this all-important World Cup.
Ulster — 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Lyttle, 13 James Hume, 12 Stewart Moore, 11 Ben Moxham, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Harry Sheridan, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Tom Stewart, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Subs: 16 John Andrew, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Andrew Warwick, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Ethan McIlroy.
Stormers —15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Cornel Smit, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Marvin Orie (c), 4 Ben- Jason Dixon, 3 Brok Harris, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Subs: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Juan de Jongh.
Springbok Duane Vermeulen to start for Ulster against Stormers
»Springbok vs Springbok, with Roos starting for the Stormers«