Siya Kolisi will feature in the starting sixth jersey for the Stormers in the upcoming Friday match against Edinburgh. The Springboks captain, Siya Kolisi, will start for the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship match after more than five years, which will take place at Hive Stadium on Friday evening.
Returning to the franchise where he began his professional career, Kolisi will earn his 119th captaincy match for the Stormers as the team plays in Scotland (match starts at 20:45 South African time).
Kolisi will start at open flanker, while Loo Nel will move to blindside flanker, and Riley Norton will take up the second row position. The only other change in the forward pack is that Ntutuko Mchunu will start at left prop.
In the backline, Stephan Ungerer and Yakin Ahmed will form a new midfield pairing to control the game. Ahmed replaces the injured Yuri Mattia, who sustained an ankle injury in the match against Connacht. The midfielder was sent home along with wingers Evan Roos and Marcel Teunisssen, who suffered injuries prior to this match.
A new player, Vandile Mlaba, has been added to the bench, providing support as a winger. Stormers rugby director John Dobson emphasized that the team's main objective is to finish the overseas tour with a victory before returning to Cape Town for four home matches.
Dobson noted: 'Last week's match against Connacht was encouraging in many ways, but we would like to see a more ruthless approach in the game that we have worked on this week.' He added that 'we know Edinburgh is a difficult place to play, and we have some experience, including Siya, Ntutuko, and Stephan, alongside Yakin Ahmed and Vandile Mlaba, who are both very talented young players.' He concluded that 'it will require great effort from all 23 players to achieve results before we return to Cape Town for the decisive period of our season.'