JJ Kotze's appeal against his three-match ban has been dismissed, ruling the hooker out until the Stormers' Champions Cup trip to Bordeaux in mid-December to face European champions URC.
Kotze was red-carded in the first half of last weekend's Champions Cup opener against Bristol Bears. Director of rugby John Dobson had sought a reduction on the grounds that the on-field referee and TMO appeared to be at odds over the incident — citing a precedent from a similar case several years ago where that argument succeeded — but an independent Disciplinary Committee upheld the suspension in full on Wednesday evening.
With Kotze's availability already uncertain heading into Saturday's URC Round 4 fixture against the Scarlets, Dobson has used the occasion to name what he calls one of the most progressive Stormers teams he has selected. The squad leans heavily on youth and Junior Springbok pedigree.
Paul de Villiers, 23, captains the side from the blindside flank, with Riley Norton starting at lock — both former Junior Bok captains. Starting prop Zachary Porthen also captained the Junior Springboks. Haashim Pead makes his run-on debut at scrumhalf, while Markus Muller — who became the youngest player to represent the Stormers when he came off the bench against Glasgow Warriors last season — gets his first start, at inside centre. Junior World Championship winners Olly Reid and Yaqeen Ahmed are named among the replacements.
"I feel like this is one of the most progressive Stormers teams we've put out," said Dobson. "Olly Reid is a player we are tremendously excited about. Markus is going to be a very good No 12, although at the moment he can play both centres. Paul is a progressive young captain, Zachary has a big future. In terms of a longer term picture this is a fantastic selection and it does not compromise quality at all."
Dobson also flagged Ahmed's development as a priority over the next two games, with the Springboks unlikely to be released for the Stormers' first post-international-break fixture against the Sharks in early December. Should Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu be unavailable for that match, Ahmed needs to be match-ready. Jurie Matthee is expected back from injury around that time to further bolster the backline options.