Raring to go: Schalk Burger
Springbok flank Schalk Burger is set to take over the captaincy of the Stormers from Bok skipper Jean de Villiers according to South African media reports.
Burger missed the whole of last season due to a knee injury sustained in the Stormers' 2012 opener against the Hurricanes which allowed De Villiers to captain the Cape Town-based outfit.
But according to Die Burger's website, Burger has recovered from that injury and is the favourite to start the upcoming season as captain.
Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer has stated recently that he was impressed with De Villiers' leadership and he wants the 31-year-old centre to continue leading the national side in 2013.
Meanwhile, Stormers coach Allister Coetzee willgive more clarity regarding the injuries to wing Bryan Habana (knee), scrum-half Dewaldt Duvenage (leg), utility forward Rynhardt Elstadt (breastbone), centre Marcel Brache and hooker Tiaan Liebenberg (both neck injuries) for the upcoming season.
The Stormers kick off their Super Rugby campaign against the Bulls in Pretoria on Friday, February 22.
Comments
rolf says...
thank you J*
Posted 13:44 14th January 2013
JayStarr says...
@ rolf: Their wine's name is Welbedacht. Schalk Burger Sr. is the boss, but Schalk Burger Jr. helps out there whenever he's not playing.
Posted 11:48 14th January 2013
carpelone says...
Let's hope he stays fit.
Posted 15:49 12th January 2013
rolf says...
where can i get schalk burger wine?
welkom terug!
Posted 14:19 11th January 2013
Spartacus says...
Burger is a fantastic player and a menace to the opposition. I would rather someone else was captain to allow him to concentrate fully on destruction. It would be good to see him (and rest of Boks back row) get a long run without injuries so he can remind everyone just how good he is.
Posted 11:30 11th January 2013
JayStarr says...
I always thought JdV made a better captain than Burger (whenever he had to take over from him before), but then last season that opinion changed... JdV talked so much about being calm and relaxed that the Stormers seemed practically lethargic with ball in hand - what they needed was some urgency and attitude! This was proven in the Currie Cup when JdV went off with the Springboks and Deon Fourie took over the captaincy and got a host of fresh young guys under him (who haven't been influenced by JdV). Western Province (the Stormers) became a different team. There was the same rock solid defense, but there was an attitude and urgency with ball in hand that was seriously lacking with the Stormers, and this clearly came from Deon Fourie leading from the front, as well as the UNTAMED youthful exhuberance of the new guys (which JdV would've thrown a bucket of water on)...
So whether it is Schalk Burger of JdV captaining the Stormers this season, I hope they, at this point in their careers, are still able to learn from other players - and that they learn from Deon Fourie. Because he showed them the way to get the best out of Stormers/Province players. He was able to achieve something neither Burger or JdV has achieved in their 10 years at WP - win a cup. So whatever they do, I hope they stop their "calm down calm down" approach, and let those young guys loose..!
But before that they need to play well enough to even make the team... Because suddenly, after last year's injury crisis as loose-forward, they will now suddenly have a plethora of quality loosies... And I would hate to see Burger keeping an on-fire Fourie or Kolisi out of the squad. The same goes for JdV and Brache or Du Plessis...
Regardless, Stormers to be 2013 Super Rugby Champions !
STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORMEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS !!
Posted 09:35 11th January 2013
sirtidychris says...
Good to see him back and hopefully he will stay fit and return to his best which was the best flanker in the world at one point, he's only 29 so has a few more miles in the tank yet...he seems to have put his year off to good use as well making wine which i tried the other day...very nice too !
Posted 09:31 11th January 2013