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Cape Town - Former Stormers captain and scrumhalf Neil de Kock believes the Cape side will fare well in this year's Super Rugby tournament.
"I still follow the Stormers' progress. They are now excellent on defence and very difficult to beat," De Kock, who currently plays for English champions Saracens, told Die Burger newspaper.
"There are talks that they have problems with depth, but there's a lot of talent in the region and fine young players. I don't think they will have a problem fitting in, especially not with the good senior players around them."
De Kock also feels the Stormers have enough experienced players to fill the void left by players like Springbok centre Jaque Fourie and flank Francois Louw.
"There are enough senior players that the Stormers can count on. Schalk Burger leads the charge. The older he gets, the better he plays. Jean de Villiers is there and Andries Bekker will again be of immense value if he can stay injury-free.
"The core of the Stormers' group is good and I believe they'll play very well this season.
"They're well coached, the players' conditioning is good and they've been among the top teams over the last two years. The Stormers just couldn't give the knockout punch at critical moments. Hopefully they can take that next step this season," said De Kock.
Saracens are currently visiting South Africa and trained at the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday for their Heineken Cup clash against Biarritz on Sunday.
The match was initially scheduled to be played in Cape Town but a tug-of-war between the Western Province Rugby Union and the Cape Town City Council about where the match should be played resulted in Saracens cancelling their plans to play the game here.
They have nevertheless still decided to come and train in the Mother City this week. Their second team, the Saracens Storm, will take on the Maties in Stellenbosch on Wednesday.
"I still follow the Stormers' progress. They are now excellent on defence and very difficult to beat," De Kock, who currently plays for English champions Saracens, told Die Burger newspaper.
"There are talks that they have problems with depth, but there's a lot of talent in the region and fine young players. I don't think they will have a problem fitting in, especially not with the good senior players around them."
De Kock also feels the Stormers have enough experienced players to fill the void left by players like Springbok centre Jaque Fourie and flank Francois Louw.
"There are enough senior players that the Stormers can count on. Schalk Burger leads the charge. The older he gets, the better he plays. Jean de Villiers is there and Andries Bekker will again be of immense value if he can stay injury-free.
"The core of the Stormers' group is good and I believe they'll play very well this season.
"They're well coached, the players' conditioning is good and they've been among the top teams over the last two years. The Stormers just couldn't give the knockout punch at critical moments. Hopefully they can take that next step this season," said De Kock.
Saracens are currently visiting South Africa and trained at the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday for their Heineken Cup clash against Biarritz on Sunday.
The match was initially scheduled to be played in Cape Town but a tug-of-war between the Western Province Rugby Union and the Cape Town City Council about where the match should be played resulted in Saracens cancelling their plans to play the game here.
They have nevertheless still decided to come and train in the Mother City this week. Their second team, the Saracens Storm, will take on the Maties in Stellenbosch on Wednesday.
