Jean leads Stormers against Boland

Springbok captain Jean de Villiers will lead the DHL Stormers into battle in their second pre-season friendly of 2013, when the Men from the Cape take on neighbours, the Regent Boland Cavaliers, at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (14h45).

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As promised, DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee has mixed up his selection this week – from last Saturday against the Cheetahs – with De Villiers, Deon Fourie and Andries Bekker all coming into the line-up.

In the absence of Juan de Jongh (hamstring), De Villiers will slot in alongside rookie Damian de Allende, whilst Bekker will form an imposing all-Springbok second row alongside Eben Etzebeth and Fourie will be propped up by Pat Cilliers and Steven Kitshoff in the front row.

Duane Vermeulen, who captained the team in Bloemfontein last weekend and will be vice-captain this week, will continue at No.8 but he will have new flanks in the shape of Rynhardt Elstadt and Siya Kolisi, with Don Armand and Nizaam Carr starting on an enlarged bench.

There will be 11 players on the bench this week, with Brok Harris, Nic Groom and Joe Pietersen all in line to make their first appearances of 2013 after not travelling to Bloemfontein.

Both Groom and Louis Schreuder – the scrumhalves in the 2012 Currie Cup Final – will start from the bench, with Dewaldt Duvenage, who continues to make his way back to full fitness after suffering a leg injury last year, starting at No.9.

* The Regent Boland Cavaliers will host the DHL Stormers in a pre-season friendly at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, February 9 at 14h45. A curtain-raiser will take place between a Boland Invitational XV and a DHL WP Vodacom Cup XV at 12h30.

Tickets are priced at R50 and R75 and are available at Computicket, Shoprite and Shoprite Checkers. No tickets will be sold at the stadium on the day.

** Saturday’s match will be televised live on SuperSport. The DHL Stormers will start their 2013 Vodacom Super Rugby campaign against the Bulls on Friday, February 22.

The DHL Stormers team to take on the Regent Boland Cavaliers is as follows:

15. Jaco Taute

14. Gio Aplon

13. Jean de Villiers (captain)

12. Damian de Allende

11. Bryan Habana

10. Kurt Coleman

9. Dewaldt Duvenage

8. Duane Vermeulen (vice-captain)

7. Rynhardt Elstadt

6. Siya Kolisi

5. Andries Bekker

4. Eben Etzebeth

3. Pat Cilliers

2. Deon Fourie

1. Steven Kitshoff

Replacements (from):

16. Martin Bezuidenhout

17. Frans Malherbe

18. Brok Harris

19. De Kock Steenkamp

20. Don Armand

21. Nizaam Carr

22. Nic Groom

23. Louis Schreuder

24. Pat Howard

25. Gerhard van den Heever

26. Joe Pietersen

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan

Tags: Boland, Jean de Villiers, Stormers, Super Rugby