Dixon hits 50 as Stormers chase winning momentum

Flank Ben-Jason Dixon will make his 50th appearance for the DHL Stormers in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with the Emirates Lions at DHL Stadium on Saturday (1.45pm kick-off).

The hard-working Dixon features in an unchanged back row alongside Hacjivah Dayimani and Evan Roos, while there is an all-new front row of props Neethling Fouche and Sti Sithole and hooker Andre-Hugo Venter.

In the backline Wandisile Simelane comes in at outside centre, with Dan du Plessis inside him to replace the injured Damian Willemse. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu starts at fullback with Warrick Gelant being rested as a precaution due to a slight niggle.

There is plenty of experience on the replacements bench with the two most-capped Stormers of all time Brok Harris and Frans Malherbe set to make an impact up front in the second half, while wing Ben Loader makes his return from injury.

Director of Rugby John Dobson said that his team is focused on taking some winning momentum into the play-offs.

"We have three solid wins under our belts and it is vital that we build on that in front of what will be a big crowd at DHL Stadium.

"We may have secured our place in the play-offs already, but this is a fantastic opportunity for us to make improvements to our game in the cauldron of a South African derby, which should be ideal preparation for the knock-out phase of the competition," he said.

Stormers starting XV: 15 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids; 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies; 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Evan Roos; 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (capt); 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Sti Sithole. Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Ben Loader.