Springbok heavyweights Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe were surprise omissions from the 28-man DHL Stormers squad chosen for a three-match Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour of Italy and Wales.

The Stormers kicked off their title defence with home wins over Connacht and Edinburgh, surprisingly opting not to deploy their Bok props in the victory over the Scottish contenders on Saturday. And the rotund duo were again left out when the Stormers announced the squad to jet out on Monday night for a three-week tour of Zebre, Ospreys and Cardiff.

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Coach John Dobson said the Stormers are looking forward to the different challenges they will face in Europe: “This is a very important tour for a few different reasons and we want to make sure we keep building.

“Our opening two wins have got us off to a good start, but we need to show that we can do the job away from home as well. There are a few players in this group who are hungry to make their mark, so this will be a good opportunity for them to show what they can do going forward.”

Stormers full squad: Kwenzo Blose, Angelo Davids, Hacjivah Dayimani, Paul de Wet, Ben-Jason Dixon, Dan du Plessis, Willie Engelbrecht, Neethling Fouche, Brok Harris, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Herschel Jantjies, Alapati Leuia, Manie Libbok, Godlen Masimla, Salmaan Moerat, Sacha Mngomezulu, Marvin Orie, Junior Pokomela, Evan Roos, Adre Smith, Chad Solomon, Marcel Theunissen, Ernst van Rhyn, Andre-Hugo Venter, Ali Vermaak, Damian Willemse, Nama Xaba, Leolin Zas.

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