Former Emerging Springbok Hendrik Roodt could make his Super 14 debut in his homeland on Saturday (SA time) after being named on the bench in the Waratahs squad to take on the Stormers at Newlands.
Roodt is one of two personnel and four team changes forced on coach Chris Hickey following last weekend’s two-point victory over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.
A two-week suspension to Dean Mumm has seen Ben Mowen return to the starting XV on the side of the scrum, while Kane Douglas is primed to make his run-on debut in the second row in place of the injured Cam Jowitt.
Wallaby tourist Dave Dennis takes Mowen’s place on the reserves bench, while Douglas’s elevation sees Roodt poised to make his NSW debut.
"Injuries and suspensions always test your depth and losing two big men in Cam and Dean has certainly done that," said Hickey.
"However the second row and back row were both areas we concentrated on improving our depth in during the off-season, and with the bad luck we encountered in round one I think we can see the result of strengthening that part of the squad.
"Benny Mowen started eleven matches for us in 2009 and he’s made a great comeback from a knee reconstruction so he’ll be ready to go, and Kane Douglas certainly won’t take a backward step.
"It’s exciting for Hendrik to be on the bench for this match and Dave Dennis returned from the Wallaby tour as an even stronger player, so we definitely have capable players there ready to fill the breach."
The backline is unchanged both in the starting line-up and the reserves list, with Daniel Halangahu poised to make his 50th state appearance if he comes onto the field.
Will Caldwell is currently equal with Tom Bowman on 53 Super Rugby caps, and will this weekend become the most capped NSW lock in Super Rugby. Caldwell is already the most capped lock in NSW Rugby history.
Captain Phil Waugh will play his 116th match moving past Matt Burke into second on the all-time list behind Chris Whitaker.
Waratahs
15. Sosene Anesi (TBA) , 14. Lachie Turner (Eastwood) , 13. Tom Carter (Sydney University) , 12. Kurtley Beale (Northern Suburbs) , 11. Drew Mitchell (Balmain) , 10. Berrick Barnes (TBA) , 9. Luke Burgess (Sydney University) , 8. Wycliff Palu (Manly) , 7. Phil Waugh [c] (Sydney University) , 6. Ben Mowen (Randwick) , 5. Kane Douglas (Southern Districts) , 4. Will Caldwell (Sydney University) , 3. Al Baxter (Northern Suburbs) , 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (Parramatta) , 1. Benn Robinson (Eastwood) ,
Reserves , 16. Damien Fitzpatrick (Eastwood) , 17. Sekope Kepu (Randwick) , 18. Hendrik Roodt (Gordon) , 19. Dave Dennis (Sydney University) , 20. Josh Holmes (Warringah) , 21. Daniel Halangahu (Sydney University) , 22. Rory Sidey (West Harbour)
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