Damian Willemse will play at fullback as the DHL Stormers have made three changes to their starting lineup for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter with the Vodacom Bulls in Cape Town on Friday.

Dan du Plessis, Suleiman Hartzenberg and Ben-Jason Dixon all come into the Stormers’ starting XV for the first north-south derby of the season.

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Du Plessis and Hartzenberg will link up in midfield, while Dixon comes into the second row to replace the injured Salmaan Moerat.

As a result, Willemse will shift to fullback and Clayton Blommetjies will play from the bench that includes props Ali Vermaak and Neethling Fouche, as well as scrumhalf Godlen Masimla.

After earning his 50th cap off the bench in the Champions Cup, Herschel Jantjies has been left out of the matchday-23 entirely.

John Dobson said that the Stormers are looking forward to what should be a great occasion.

“These ‘festive derbies’ are going to become part of our rugby tradition going forward so this is an exciting new chapter in the rivalry between the two teams.

“We have had some injury disruptions this week, but have managed to build some good depth this season and you can be sure that every player in our matchday squad will be ready to give it everything.

“This is a big match for both sets of fans and we are looking forward to what should be a fantastic atmosphere at DHL Stadium on Friday,” he said.

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Stormers – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (c).
Subs: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.

Photo: Twitter: @THESTORMERS