Maart debuts as Stormers choose monster bench for Munster

The DHL Stormers may be without key Springboks for their top of the table Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Munster in Limerick but what they do have is a monster bench capable of shifting a gear for their team in the second half if all goes according to plan.

Connor Evans has been chosen as the starting lock partner for skipper Salmaan Moerat, who takes the captaincy reins for the first time this season after making his return from injury as a foot soldier against Benetton in Treviso in the last game before the international break. That pair are backed up on the bench by the powerful Adre Smith and JD Schickerling, while Ruan Ackermann provides bench cover at loose-forward.

The men out because they are on international duty are Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach and Ben-Jason Dixon, plus Zachary Porthen, who although he is playing for the Boks and will be on the replacement bench in the out of the international window game is not yet a first or even second choice at the Stormers.

Nthuthuko Mchunu, who has yet to play for his new franchise after moving down from Durban during the offseason is also not available because he was part of the Bok squad in the buildup week to the Cardiff game. That is a lot of cattle to be missing, but arguably it is behind the scrum where the Stormers are most compromised, with just blindside flank Dixon missing from what would be considered the first choice Stormers pack.

On that subject, the inclusion of Evans as a starting lock helps the utility value of the bench, as he might have been considered the like for like replacement for Dixon given that he has played a few games on the blindside flank this year. He can move there later in the game, with the excellent Marcel Theunissen bringing a more pacy option to the position at the start.

With Jurie Matthee well equipped to play the type of game that might be anticipated in northern hemisphere conditions - the Thomond Park surface is grass and not 4G - the power packed into their pack and coming off the bench does give the Cape side a chance of winning at a venue where they have yet to taste success in the URC.

With Willemse at the Boks, Wandisile Simelane comes in at outside centre to the team that beat Benetton, with Ruhan Nel, who led the team to five wins in the opening phase to the new season, switching into the No 12 jersey that the Bok fullback wore against Benetton.

Back in action this weekend as we face Munster in a table-topping @Vodacom #URC clash in Limerick.

📢 Team announcement https://t.co/2qUcYq91tb
📺 Watch it live on @SuperSportTV #MUNvSTO #inittogether pic.twitter.com/HS8GtNTUWb

— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) November 28, 2025

The Griquas wing Dylan Maart, who although announced as a loan recruitment just a week ago is understood to have been training with the Stormers for quite a while, will make his Stormers debut in the No 14 jersey in the absence of the injured Seabelo Senatla.

Given that he scored some sensational tries for Griquas in the recent Carling Currie Cup season, the 29-year-old could prove an exciting acquisition to the Cape side but playing away against Munster in a night game is quite a tough place for a baptism.

Another player making his first appearance of the season, although not his first for the Stormers, is former Scotland and Glasgow Warriors prop Oli Kebble, who is on the bench as backup to the ever impressive Vernon Matongo, who might have been part of the Bok squad already were it not for the fact he is still awaiting his South African passport.

He went to school in Durban so has lived in South Africa for almost a decade but there is still a qualification period related to how much time he has been employed in the country to sit out.

A welcome returnee to the Stormers front row is tighthead prop Neethling Fouche, who will bring his experience, and when you look at the team sheet it does appear justified to give the Stormers a chance of winning even without their Boks.

Much will depend on how clinical and ruthless they are in taking the chances that come their way, and the continuation of the excellent defensive effort that saw just a handful of tries scored against them in the opening five games.

DHL Stormers team: Warrick Gelant, Dylan Maart, Wandisile Simelane, Ruhan Nel, Leolin Zas, Jurie Matthee, Stefan Ungerer, Evan Roos, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Villiers, Connor Evans, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Neethling Fouché, André-Hugo Venter, Vernon Matongo. Replacements: JJ Kotzé, Oli Kebble, Sazi Sandi, Adré Smith, JD Schickerling, Ruan Ackermann, Dewaldt Duvenage, Clinton Swart.