Schalk – ‘It’s not about me’

The 29-year-old missed the 2012 season with a knee injury but he is determined to make up for lost time this year after a frustrating period spent on the sidelines.

“I’m ready to go and looking forward to it,” said Burger. “Last year was a bit of a disaster; it’s good to be back on a rugby field – despite the tough pre-season!

“I’ve just got to try to get my conditioning back to a level where I can play some good rugby again,” he revealed during the team’s pre-season camp in Hermanus.

“I’ve got a lot of energy after just about a year on the sidelines – you build up some extra motivation,” he added, “also, getting back with the team makes you realise how much you miss rugby. It’s just great to be running around again.”

When asked about resuming the DHL Stormers captaincy this year, Burger – who will again have great mate Jean de Villiers as his deputy – added: “It’s nice captaining the side again, but it’s not about me.

“There’s a great group of experienced leaders all around. I’ve really just got to do some post-match interviews and keep you guys (referring to the media) happy!”

The hard-as-nails loose forward already has 88 DHL Stormers caps to his credit but, for him, it is all about the team in 2013.

“Hopefully it will be a really successful 2013 for the Stormers. We’ve created many opportunities in the past to win the trophy… It’s a big competition and hopefully we can put ourselves right in contention again,” he said, referring to their SA Conference-winning seasons of 2011 and 2012.

“But you don’t want to jump the gun; you do have to take it week by week.”

DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee revealed that Burger would make his ‘official’ comeback in one of the two friendlies next month – either against the Cheetahs (on February 2) or the Boland Cavaliers (on February 9).