Stormers' loan recruit Rosko Specman to be unleashed against the Bulls

As expected‚ loan recruit Rosko Specman will be unleashed against his former teammates when the Stormers run out against the Bulls at Loftus on Friday night.

Specman‚ who is at the Stormers on loan from the Cheetahs‚ is one of four changes to the starting line-up for their PRO14 Rainbow Cup SA clash.

He will be familiar with most of the Bulls players having left the franchise last year.

The player‚ who joined the Stormers at the start of the week to get valuable game time in elevated company‚ comes in on the wing‚ while Tim Swiel's introduction at flyhalf is the only other change in the back division from the team that downed the Sharks in Durban.

The two changes in the pack come in the form of David Meihuizen at lock for JD Schickerling‚ who picked up an ankle injury in training this week‚ while Neethling Fouche cracked the nod at tighthead prop ahead of Frans Malherbe.

Stormers coach John Dobson pleaded for accuracy from his squad on Friday. Not that they need reminding, as it is a commodity visitors to Loftus require in abundance.

“We know that it will take a clinical performance to get the win on Friday and we are up for the challenge‚” said the coach.

His comments perhaps relates to the team's performance in their last clash against the Bulls in Cape Town.

On that occasion the Stormers dominated but were met with persistent and a highly committed Bulls' defence. It didn't help that the Stormers coughed up possession in crucial areas‚ at vital times.

“We want to push ourselves to deliver our best rugby for the full 80 minutes as we know that we are an even better team than we have shown in this competition‚” said Dobson.

A win for the Stormers would put them right back in contention for top honours in this section of the competition. The Bulls lead the Stormers and the Sharks by four log points but with two rounds remaining‚ the visitors to Loftus have a lot to play for.

Stormers team to play the Bulls:

Damian Willemse; Rosko Specman; Ruhan Nel; Rikus Pretorius; Edwill van der Merwe; Tim Swiel; Herschel Jantjies; Evan Roos; Pieter-Steph du Toit; Willie Engelbrecht; Marvin Orie; David Meihuizen; Neethling Fouche; Bongi Mbonambi‚ Steven Kitshoff.

Substitutes (from):

Andre-Hugo Venter; Ali Vermaak; Frans Malherbe; Ernst van Rhyn; Marcel Theunissen; Godlen Masimla; Dan du Plessis; Sergeal Petersen; Lee-Marvin Mazibuko; Juarno Augustus.