Siya Kolisi to make second Stormers debut as John Dobson shifts his pack to make room for the Springboks captain
Siya Kolisi and Seabelo Senatla with an inset of Stormers boss John Dobson.
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi will make his second Stormers debut on Friday night against Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship.
He has been named in the Stormers starting XV for the clash in the Scottish capital having made his return from the Sharks to the team where he started his professional career.
Kolisi will earn his 119th Stormers cap when he runs out in Edinburgh for kick-off at 20h45 SAST on Friday.
Siya Kolisi returns for second Stormers debut
The double World Cup-winning Bok starts in the back-row with Louw Nel moving to the blindside flank position while Riley Norton is in the second-row. The loose trio is rounded out by Hacjivah Dayimani at number eight.
Ntuthuko Mchunu starts at loosehead in the only other change to the Stormers‘ forward back with André-Hugo Venter and Neethling Fouché at hooker and tighthead prop, respectively. JD Schickerling will partner Norton in the second-row.
In the backline, Stefan Ungerer and Yaqeen Ahmed come in at half-back to pull the strings while Jonathan Roche and captain Ruhan Nel start in the centres. Wingers Leolin Zas and Seabelo Senatla make up the back-three along with Warrick Gelant.
Director of rugby John Dobson has stuck with a six-two bench split as Vernon Paulo, Vernon Matongo, Sazi Sandi, Connor Evans, Adré Smith, and Wandile Mlaba providing cover up front with Andre Warner and Wandisile Simelane tasked with making an impact in the backline.
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“Last week’s performance against Connacht was encouraging in many ways, but we would like to see a more ruthless edge to our game, which we have worked on this week,” said Dobson.
“We know that Edinburgh is a tough place to play and we have some experience coming in, with Siya, Ntuthuko and Stefan included along with Yaqeen Ahmed and Wandile Mlabaa, who are both really exciting young players.
“It will take a big effort from all 23 players to get the result before we go back to Cape Town for what will be a crucial period in the context of our season,” he said.
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Edinburgh v Stormers teams
Edinburgh: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Malelili Satala, 13 Matt Currie (cc), 12 Kienan Higgins, 11 Geordie Gwynn, 10 James Grayson, 9 Hector Patterson, 8 Magnus Bradbury (cc), 7 Freddy Douglas, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Glen Young, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Harri Morris, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Euan McVie, 20 Tom Currie, 21 Conor McAlpine, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Rory McHaffie
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (c), 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Riley Norton, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu
Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Adré Smith, 21 Wandile Mlaba, 22 Andre Warner, 23 Wandisile Simelane
Date: Friday, 2 October 2026
Venue: Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19.45 IRE & UK / 20.45 ITA & SA
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Jonny MacKenzie (SRU) and Ciaran Stark (SRU)
TMO: Paul Haycock (IRFU)
Broadcasters: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby, URC.tv
