Stormers coach Fleck shuffles the deck for Cheetahs clash

Stormers coach Robbie Fleck will throw rookie flank Cobus Wiese into battle against the Cheetahs on Saturday after naming him in the starting XV for the important Super Rugby meting.

Wiese‚ 19‚ made his debut off the bench during last week’s 44-31 win over the Sunwolves in Singapore and has a starting chance after veteran flank Rynhardt Elstadt was ruled out for 12 weeks with an ankle injury.

“With the injury to Rynhardt we needed to make a change and the impact he had off the bench against the Sunwolves was significant enough to convince us to start with him this week‚” Fleck said.

“He played well in the pre-season and his physicality last week was impressive. He has a high work rate and his lineout skills are decent‚ which gives us options there. He’s a young kid who brings a lot of energy.

• Jurie Roux defends SA Rugby's R23.3 million loss in last financial yearSA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux has defended the organisation’s R23.3 million loss in the last financial year and is confident that their turnaround strategy will see better financial performances in the coming year. 

“The balance was better for this week with Cobus starting‚ and Nizaam Carr will offer experience from the bench.”

In another change centre Daniel du Plessis takes over from Dan Kriel in the midfield‚ in what Fleck described as ‘rotational’.

But there is no doubt that Du Plessis added spark and a lot of momentum when he came on last weekend and for that he has been rewarded.

He will play alongside the impressive EW Viljoen.

“When he came on last week his combination with EW was good and his defensive work was very solid.”

• The Bulls have a mountain to climb against the Chiefs in Hamilton The Bulls have their backs against the wall with one win from four starts in Super Rugby so far this year and captain Adriaan Strauss says they will have to play with an attacking mindset against the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday. 

Cheslin Kolbe returns from injury to play right wing and Bjorn Basson drops out with Dillyn Leyds moving from fullback to left wing and SP Marais starting at 15 after missing out last week.

Scrumhalf Jano Vermaak also starts after missing the Sunwolves match even though Fleck was tempted to start with Dewaldt Duvenage‚ who gave an impressive performance in Singapore.

“Jano was playing very well before his injury and even though Dewaldt was excellent last week‚ we felt it was right to go back to Jano.

But it’s great to have someone like Dewaldt playing so well on the bench.”

• Stormers lock Pieter-Steph's manic work ethic keeps him at the topPieter-Steph du Toit‚ the current South African Rugby Player of the Year‚ has been in magnificent form in 2017‚ continuing his rampaging play of 2016 that was one of the few bright spots on a dismal year for local rugby. 

Frans Malherbe is also included in the starting line-up after missing the trip to Singapore as part of the Springbok management plan and he will line up alongside hooker Bongi Mbonambi and loosehead prop JC Janse van Rensburg in the front row.

Bok locks Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth also return after putting their feet up last weekend to bolster the tight five.

"After two away games separated by a bye week‚ it is exciting for us to be playing in front of our crowd at Newlands once again‚” Fleck said.

"It will be another tough South African derby‚ but the players have put in plenty of hard work this week and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

• Pienaar faces up to Bulls' frailtiesBulls defence coach Pine Pienaar has taken responsibility for some of the problems that contributed to the team losing three of their opening four Super rugby matches. 

Stormers: 15 SP Marais‚ 14 Cheslin Kolbe‚ 13 EW Viljoen‚ 12 Dan du Plessis‚ 11 Dillyn Leyds‚ 10 Robert du Preez‚ 9 Jano Vermaak‚ 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe‚ 7 Siya Kolisi (captain)‚ 6 Cobus Wiese‚ 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ 4 Eben Etzebeth‚ 3 Frans Malherbe‚ 2 Bongi Mbonambi‚ 1 JC Janse van Rensburg. 


Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels‚ 17 Caylib Oosthuizen‚ 18 Oli Kebble‚ 19 Chris van Zyl‚ 20 Nizaam Carr‚ 21 Dewaldt Duvenage‚ 22 Kurt Coleman‚ 23 Dan Kriel.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport