Willemse back in midfield as pressed-for-time Stormers pick teenaged Junior Springbok

Damian Willemse's reputation as the Stormers' talismanic jack-of-all-trades is now firmly entrenched as he's back in midfield for the Cape franchise's URC assignment against Glasgow Warriors at Scoutston Stadium on Sunday.

The rising Springbok star's switch means Clayton Blommetjies is the only returnee to the starting line-up that strolled past the Lions on New Year's Eve, a consequence of coach John Dobson opting for continuity simply because the travel to Scotland left them with limited time for preparation.

It's understood the side took almost 40 hours to get to their destination as SA Rugby's travel arrangement with Qatar Airways, announced at the start of the season, starts to bite because main flights first have to stop over in Doha.

Moreover, Dobson believes the "completely different challenge" awaiting his charges necessitates keeping changes to a minimum.

"This is going to take a significant adjustment on a number of fronts for our team and this challenge comes at a crucial point in our season," he said.

"We have seen some good growth from a lot of these combinations in recent weeks and would like to see if they can step-up while outside of their comfort zone.

"While we haven't been here long as it took a while to travel, our focus is on taking the next step as a group in these sorts of conditions."

The genial mentor though has continued to gradually show faith in his emerging youngster, selecting 19-year-old Imad Khan on the bench for a possible debut.

The nippy scrumhalf, who is also a proficient goal-kicker, was an instrumental figure in Western Province's Under-21 campaign last season and represented the Junior Springboks in this year's Summer Series in Italy.  

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13