South Africans

Stander cracks the nod at No 8, while Heiberg was selected on the bench as a backup prop.

Meanwhile, Marcel Brache, who previously played for Western Province and the Stormers, starts at outside centre.

Brache, who was born in Los Angeles, has played 23 Tests for the US Eagles.

The match-day squad named by coach Tim Sampson includes 18 of the players who featured in the Force's 54-15 rout of the Malaysia Valke in a Global Rapid Rugby clash on 14 March.

"Consistency and continuity will be very important given it is our first Super Rugby game in a few years," Sampson told the Force's official website.

"We have several players who have performed consistently well for us and have played at this level before. The selection has a very good balance from 1 to 23 in terms of experience."

Teams:

Waratahs

15 Jack Maddocks, 14 James Ramm, 13 Alex Newsome, 12 Joey Walton, 11 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 10 Will Harrison, 9 Mitch Short, 8 Will Harris, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Lachie Swinton, 5 Rob Simmons (captain), 4 Ned Hanigan, 3 Harry Johnson-Holmes, 2 Robbie Abel, 1 Angus Bell

Substitutes: 16 Tom Horton, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Tiaan Tauakipulu, 19 Tom Staniforth, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Michael McDonald, 22 Ben Donaldson/Tepai Moeroa, 23 Karmichael Hunt

Force

15 Jack McGregor, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Nick Jooste, 11 Brad Lacey, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Brynard Stander, 7 Tevin Ferris, 6 Henry Stowers, 5 Fergus Lee Warner, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Feleti Kaitu'u, 1 Angus Wagner

Substitutes: 16 Andrew Ready, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Johan Bardoul 20 Ollie Callan, 21 Jacob Abel, 22 Henry Taefy, 23 Kyle Godwin