Evans gets big stage opportunity as Stormers lose Van Heerden for semi

The DHL Stormers will be without their stalwart lock Ruben van Heerden for Saturday’s Vodacom URC semifinal against Leinster at the AVIVA Stadium in Dublin.

Van Heerden sitting out for the promising but still young Connor Evans is one of the three changes to the Stormers team that started last week’s 44-21 win over Cardiff in their DHL Stadium quarterfinal. The other two changes are the ones that would have been anticipated at the end of the Cardiff game - Jurie Matthee replaces Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Wandisile Simelane is the injury-enforced replacement for wing Seabelo Senatla.

Although Van Heerden was cleared to fly out with the squad on Monday night, it was always going to be touch and go whether he’d be ready for Saturday’s game. His missing out is a big body blow to the Stormers as having three experienced locks in the match day 23 was one of the established Stormers' strengths. In fact, earlier in the year, it was four locks in the playing squad that were essential to their game model, but they have also lost JD Schickerling to injury.

That means Springbok Salmaan Moerat, who like Van Heerden is departing Cape Town to continue his career at a French club next season, and Adre Smith are the only two of the four initial first-choice locks still standing for the Stormers as they reach the final bend in their campaign.

MOERAT PLAYS OFF THE BENCH

As Moerat and Adre Smith are both No 4 locks, or ‘front locks’ as Rassie Erasmus used to refer to them when he was Stormers coach in 2009, it has meant Evans, 24, who wasn’t part of the match day squad last week but did play against Ulster in the penultimate league game, is effectively thrown in at the deep end as the lineout leader in Dublin.

There is a positive spin to that move as while Van Heerden’s long experience in the role would have made him a safer bet for such a big game, Evans will still be on the Stormers books next year whereas Van Heerden won’t be. From a development viewpoint then, there is something to be gained from exposing Evans to the atmosphere of a semifinal.

The Stormers are expected to have their second row stocks bolstered by the arrival of Argentina international lock Thomas Lavinini in the off-season, but as they are losing two locks to French clubs, it is likely Evans will have a bigger role to play for the Stormers from here on.

BJ AND RUAN OFFER MANOEUVRE SPACE

The utility value of blindside flank Ben-Jason Dixon does give Stormers director of rugby John Dobson some room to manoeuvre in the game itself as the physical and imposing Ruan Ackermann is on the bench and Dobson rates his ability to contribute in what he calls “the dark arts” of forward play highly.

Indeed, he was wanting to give Ackermann, who has formerly played for the Lions and Gloucester, more than the 10 minutes he got against Cardiff last week in his return from injury and was considering starting with him against Leinster.

While losing a world-class player like Feinberg-Mngomezulu was obviously not ideal and was a severe setback to the Stormers’ chances of scoring an upset win, Matthee is a highy capable flyhalf. So the losses of Van Heerden and Senatla, with the latter being replaced essentially by a centre in the form of Simelane, are arguably bigger blows to the Stormers in terms of the game strategy they were intending to implement against Leinster.

Warrick Gelant, a veteran of the winning 2022 campaign, has been returned to the squad via the replacement bench, with starting fullback Damian Willemse clearly slated to move to inside centre during the game as well as operating as cover for Dan du Plessis, who also ended the quarterfinal under an injury cloud.

Bring on the @Vodacom #URC Semi-Final in Dublin.

📢 Team announcement https://t.co/sQeHsxPJgU
📺 @SuperSportTV #LEIvSTO #inittogether pic.twitter.com/qFnb1mH9Rn — DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) June 5, 2026

RECORD FOR DAN AND RUHAN

Captain Ruhan Nel and his midfield partner Dan du Plessis, who also played often in the 2022 title-winning season, will become the most-capped Stormers centre pairing as they make their 31st start together, to go past De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert.

Dobson agreed with the general consensus that his team will have to be at their best to beat the defending champions on their home ground.

“This will be a big challenge for everyone involved against a team with a great pedigree and formidable home record, but these are the occasions we live for, and I have no doubt that our team will put in a worthy performance,” said Dobson.

“We lost a few players last week, but those coming in have all played important roles in this campaign and are ready to give their all on Saturday. We have earned the chance to play for a place in the Grand Final, and it will come down to a big 80 minutes. This team will not leave anything out there as we aim to do our fans proud,” he added.

DHL Stormers team: Damian Willemse, Wandisile Simelane, Ruhan Nel (captain), Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Jurie Matthee, Imad Khan, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Paul de Villiers, Connor Evans, Adré Smith, Neethling Fouché, André-Hugo Venter, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: JJ Kotzé, Vernon Matongo, Zachary Porthen, Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Ackermann, Marcel Theunissen, Stefan Ungerer, Warrick Gelant.