Super Rugby Preview: Stormers v Blues

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Stormers change one for Blues

The Stormers have made just just one change to their starting XV for their clash against the Blues in Cape Town on Saturday.

Having opened their campaign with a clinical 29-17 win over the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend, Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee has wisely kept the changes to a minimum.

In an enforced change, however, lock Jean Kleyn misses out with a calf muscle injury, handing a start to fellow young gun and lock-cum-flank Jurie van Vuuren – after the latter came off the bench at Loftus Versfeld.

In a further change to the 23-man squad that played away last Saturday, fit-again Springbok loose forward Siya Kolisi comes in for Van Vuuren in the number 19 shirt – meaning Michael Rhodes and Rynhardt Elstadt will cover at lock whilst giving the hosts two explosive back-row options from the bench – with Springbok Nizaam Carr also amongst the replacements – in the process.

“Frans Malherbe and Kobus van Wyk are not quite there yet (in terms of fitness), but, that said, it’s great to be able to reward our players (with selection) after last week’s performance,” Coetzee told the Stormers’ official website.

“Losing Jean is a blow, in terms of continuity, but we didn’t want to risk him – after all it’s a long season.”

Saturday will see skipper Duane Vermeulen play his 100th Super Rugby match – 80th for the Stormers since 2009, along with 20 matches for the Cheetahs between 2007 and 2008.

Other changes include moving Charles Piutau to full-back, a decision that coach  John Kirwan says will “bring a good solid voice to the back.”

“For us, we think that Charles has a little bit more impact at 15. He went well for us last week, but we need to get him with the ball in hand a little bit more. We feel he’s a little bit more influential.”

The Stormers are coming off a 29-17 victory over the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend. They have made just one change to the previous weekend’s starting line-up, with lock Jean Kleyn stepping off the field due to a calf muscle injury and Jurie van Vuuren stepping on in his place.

Kick-off will be at 4.05am NZT this Sunday, shown live on Sky Sport One from 4 am. For Blues updates, follow @BluesRugbyTeam on Twitter.

Last 10 Games played between the Stormers   and Blues
3-May-13	Blues	18 – 17	Stormers
16-Mar-12	Stormers	27 – 17	Blues
20-May-11	Blues	26 – 28	Stormers
10-Apr-10	Blues	21 – 33	Stormers
28-Feb-09	Stormers	08 – 14	Blues
22-Mar-08	Blues	17 – 14	Stormers
21-Apr-07	Stormers	33 – 20	Blues
8-Apr-06	Blues	32 – 15	Stormers
23-Apr-05	Stormers	24 – 37	Blues
16-Apr-04	Blues	23 – 51	Stormers
Overall Stats Stormers			Overall Stats Blues
Games Played	17		Games Played	17
*Games Won	7		*Games Won	10
*Games Lost	10		*Games Lost	7
Games Drawn	0		Games Drawn	0
*Longest.Winning.Streak	3		*Longest.Winning.Streak	3
*Longest Losing Streak	3		*Longest Losing Streak	3
*Largest Points For	51		*Largest Points For	74
*Largest Points Against	74		*Largest Points Against	51
*Largest.Winning.Margin	28		*Largest.Winning.Margin	46
*Largest Losing Margin	-46		*Largest Losing Margin	-28
*Total Points For	410		*Total Points For	475
*Avg Points For	24.12		*Avg Points For	27.94
*Total Points Against	475		*Total Points Against	410
*Avg Points Against	27.94		*Avg Points Against	24.12
*Total Points Difference	-65		*Total Points Difference	65
*Avg Points Difference	-3.82		*Avg Points Difference	3.82
* = By Stormers			* = By Blues

Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Siya Kolisi, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Huw Jones.

Blues: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Hamish Northcott, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Tevita Li , 10 Ihaia West, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Jerome Kaino (c), 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Hayden Triggs , 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Angus Ta’avao, 2 James Parsons, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Matt Moulds, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Luke Braid, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Dan Bowden, 23 Lolagi Visinia

Date: Saturday, February 21
Kick-off: 17:05 local (15:05 GMT)
Venue: Newlands
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Television match officials: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)