Cape Town - Scrumhalf Nic Groom will play his 50th Vodacom Super Rugby game for the DHL Stormers in the match against the Reds at Newlands on Saturday.
The 26-year-old takes his place in a Stormers starting line-up which features five changes and a positional switch for the clash with the Reds, which kicks off at 3pm.
Damian de Allende will make his first start of the season at inside centre, and will partner Johnny Kotze in midfield after co-captain Juan de Jongh was ruled out due to a delayed concussion. Frans Malherbe returns to the starting XV to lead the side in one of four rotational changes to the forward pack.
He is joined by Oli Kebble in the front row, with Vincent Koch and JC Janse van Rensburg named on the replacements bench. Rynhardt Elstadt makes his first start of the season at lock, with JD Schickerling set to make an impact from the bench, whilst in the loose trio Schalk Burger makes way for Siya Kolisi, with Nizaam Carr moving to No.8. Stormers
Head Coach Robbie Fleck said that the team is looking forward to playing in front of their faithful fans at Newlands. “Our philosophy this season is to keep growing and learning from our experiences, and it is important that we make another step up against a competitive Reds side. It is great to be back home at Newlands, and the team is focused on delivering a worthy performance,” he said.
Stormers team: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Frans Malherbe (captain), 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble. Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Brandon Thomson. Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen - African News Agency (ANA)