Springboks stars Damian Willemse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu have been named in the Stormers’ starting XV to face Ulster on Friday evening.

The pair have been sidelined for much of this season but have made a timely return to action as the Capetonians press for a place in the last eight.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu produced a man-of-the-match performance against Scarlets last time out and retains his starting role at fly-half, while Willemse replaces Warrick Gelant at full-back.

Gelant drops out of the team entirely in a workload management ploy while fit-again Suleiman Hartzenberg slots into the midfield to combine with Dan du Plessis.

Meanwhile, Springboks prop Frans Malherbe has dropped out of the matchday squad, in accordance to national team requirements, and is replaced by Neethling Fouche, who skippers the team in the absence of Salmaan Moerat and Deon Fourie, the latter sustaining a concussion against Scarlets.

Connor Evans will start in the second-row in place of usual Stormers captain Moerat, who is also rested, while Dave Ewers packs down at flank.

Director of rugby John Dobson was pleased by the performances of his returning Springboks last week and expects them to be even better in Belfast.

“Having the calmness of Damian [Willemse] and Warrick [Gelant] was really important, and I think Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] played brilliantly,” he said after the win over Scarlets.

“They will get so much better next week. The group is feeling confident, and happy.”

He added: “We budgeted one win from two [on tour]; to go five points to start is brilliant. If we can get something at the Kingspan and then hit our home run, we’re going to be very, very hard in the mix.”

Ulster milestone for McCloskey

Meanwhile, Ireland centre Stuart McCloskey will celebrate his 200th appearance for his club on Friday evening, while Rob Baloucoune makes his first appearance of the season.

Ulster have been boosted by the return of props Andrew Warwick and Tom Stewart, the latter former starting at loosehead alongside hooker Rob Herring and tighthead Tom O’Toole.

Alan O’Connor captains the side from the second-row, combining with Kieran Treadwell while there is just one change to the back-row from the victory over the Dragons as Matty Rea starts at blindside flanker. David McCann shifts over to number eight while Nick Timoney retains his spot at openside flanker.

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John Cooney starts at scrum-half, partnering Jack Murphy, while McCloskey partners James Hume in the midfield. Baloucoune joins Jacob Stockdale and Michael Lowry in the back three.

Check out all the teams for Friday’s URC matches, with Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham also returning for Edinburgh’s clash with bottom-of-the-table Dragons.

Friday’s URC teams

Ulster v Stormers

Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 John Cooney, 8 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 James McNabney, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ben Carson, 23 Zac Ward

Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Neethling Fouché (c), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Wandisile Simelane

Venue: Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA / 21.35 SA
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 50th league game)
Assistant Referees: Eoghan Cross (IRFU), Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)
Live on: BBC NI, TG4, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Edinburgh v Dragons

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (cc), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (cc), 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Paddy Harrison, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Ross McCann

Dragons: 15 Huw Anderson, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen (c), 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harrison Keddie, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Steve Cummins, 4 Joe Davies, 3 Paula Latu, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rodrigo Martinez
Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Nathan Evans, 19 Barny Langton-Cryer, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Josh Thomas, 23 Jared Rosser

Venue: Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA / 21.35 SA
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU, 18th league game)
Assistant Referees: Jonny Perriam (SRU), Rob McDowell (SRU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
Live on: Premier Sports, BBC Wales, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv