Leolin Zas starts at wing for Stormers against Cheetahs in Bloemfontein

Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has made one injury-enforced change to his team to face the Cheetahs at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday (17:10 kick-off).

Leolin Zas will make his starting debut for the Stormers in place of Kobus van Wyk, who is sidelined with a minor ankle injury, with Huw Jones taking his place amongst the replacements.

The quicksilver 20-year-old wing earned his first Stormers cap when he came off the bench in the 33-9 opening round win against the Bulls at Newlands last week.

Fleck would like to see his side build on their opening performance when they face a dangerous Cheetahs side on Saturday.

“It was encouraging that we finished so strong against the Bulls, but there are still plenty of areas in which we can improve, so we want to take another step forward in Bloemfontein,” Fleck told the Stormers’ official website.

“The impact that our replacements made was considerable, and it is great to be in a position where there is such fierce competition for starting places.”

Fleck added that Zas deserves this opportunity after a highly impressive pre-season.

“There is no doubt that he (Zas) has incredible potential, and we would like to back talented young players as much as possible,” said Fleck.

Teams:

Cheetahs

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais

Substitutes: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Francois Uys, 20 Boom Prinsloo, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Niel Marais

Stormers

15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Juan de Jongh (co-captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble.

Substitutes: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Frans Malherbe (co-captain), 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Huw Jones

Source: Sport24