Schoolboy stars commit to Stormers Rugby
A strong group of junior players have committed their futures to Stormers Rugby.
School rugby season is in full swing, with quality rugby being played across the Western Cape every weekend and several highly promising players are poised to make the transition to professional rugby next year.
Stormers Rugby have already secured the services of several of these star players for 2026 and beyond, which will continue the steady flow of talent into the system.
The Paarl Gimnasium duo of centre Markus Muller and loose forward Quintin Potgieter, Rondebosch Boys loose forward Alutha Wesi, centre Randall-John Davids and prop Matt van der Merwe, wing Jordan Steenkamp, hooker Altus Rabe and loose forward Gert Kemp from Paul Roos, Wynberg Boys flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, Boland Landbou scrumhalf Jayden Brits and Grey College lock AJ Meyer have all agreed to join Stormers Rugby next year.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that the contracting model is to look at local talent from the region first as a way to keep strengthening the pathway system which has seen DHL Western Province U21 win two consecutive national titles, with many of those players going on to feature for the DHL Stormers as well.
“This speaks to our aim as an organisation of harnessing the talent we have on our doorstep and strengthening the connection with our fans by contracting players from their communities to take our team forward.
“Of course we still keep any eye on the most promising players from around the country and will make strategic acquisitions from outside the region if we feel they will make a big difference,” he said.
Dobson said that this strong intake of local talent is extremely encouraging as Stormers Rugby look to build significant depth by drawing on the best that the schools in the Western Cape have to offer.
“We have seen a few big success stories in recent years, with the likes of Damian Willemse, Salmaan Moerat, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, JD Schickerling and Suleiman Hartzenberg all coming through our system to become household names.
“We expect the same to happen with many of these players who will join our environment next year and we are not done here, with a few more significant names set to be added to this list in the near future,” he said.
