Stormers unveil star-studded squad for new season

Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson has confirmed an impressive 56-man squad for the 26/27 URC season, with veteran centre Ruhan Nel serving as the club captain.

The squad for the URC and Champions Cup this season boasts 17 internationals, including 15 Springboks, who line up alongside four history-makers from the Junior Springboks’ championship-winning side earlier this year.

As many as 18 players from the famous 2021/22 URC title-winning campaign remain part of the group, while there are returns for Siya Kolisi (118 Stormers caps), Wilco Louw (52 caps) and Cheslin Kolbe (49 caps).

The Stormers open the season with a two-match URC tour, taking on Connacht in Galway before heading to Edinburgh – a true test on the road to kick things off.

Then it is back to Cape Town for four consecutive matches at DHL Stadium.

The Stormers 26/27 squad (caps in brackets)

*denotes under-21 players

Props
Neethling Fouché (114), Oli Kebble (57), Sazi Sandi (52), Wilco Louw (52), Vernon Matongo (22), Ntuthuko Mchunu (19), Zachary Porthen (15), Hencus van Wyk (2), Herman Lubbe* (1), Olly Reid* (1)

Hookers
André-Hugo Venter (89), JJ Kotzé (58), Lukhanyo Vokozela (4), Vernon Paulo (0), Luca Bakkes (0)

Locks
JD Schickerling (74), Adré Smith (69), Connor Evans (40), Gary Porter (19), Riley Norton* (0)

Loose Forwards
Deon Fourie (141), Siya Kolisi (118), Marcel Theunissen (95), Evan Roos (87), Ben-Jason Dixon (86), Hacjivah Dayimani (64), Paul de Villiers (36), Keke Morabe (19), Louw Nel (13), Ruan Ackermann (10), Wandile Mlaba* (2), Divan Fuller* (0)

Scrumhalves
Stefan Ungerer (47), Imad Khan (18), Cobus Reinach (9), Ezekiel Ngobeni (0), Jayden Brits* (0)

Flyhalves
Jean-Luc du Plessis (61), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (53), Jurie Matthee (29), Yaqeen Ahmed* (1), Kyle Smith* (0)

Centres
Ruhan Nel (90), Wandisile Simelane (41), Jonathan Roche (16), Markus Muller* (1), Josh Boulle (0)

Wings
Leolin Zas (99), Seabelo Senatla (74) Cheslin Kolbe (49), JC Mars* (3), Mfundo Ndhlovu (1), Joel Leotlela (0), Gino Cupido* (0)

Fullbacks
Damian Willemse (118), Warrick Gelant (77)

Depth test

Dobson said he believes this is the strongest depth in a squad in recent seasons, in line with the stated aims of Project 2029.

“Last season, we fielded a team that had 1,569 DHL Stormers caps between them, which was the most in the history of the club and a marker that we want to build on as we seek to realise the goals of Project 2029.

“Given the experienced core we have who have stayed loyal to us for so long, the iconic players returning to the fold and the young talent coming through our system, we feel well-positioned to build on last season, which saw us host play-off rugby in Cape Town and push some of the best club teams in the world in knock-out matches on their home turf.

“We have a solid base of experienced players who form the backbone of the squad, with the intention to compete seriously on all fronts this season, while we also have the talent pipeline in place, with the Stormers Rugby Institute continually developing players that are ready to step into the senior squad.

“We face a challenging start to the season, but after putting in the work in pre-season this group is ready to represent our fans and we cannot wait to get started in Galway next week,” he said.