Burger blow for Stormers

Stormers captain Schalk Burger has been ruled out of his team's opening Super Rugby clash against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers will lead the team into battle in the absence of Burger, who has not recovered from the calf muscle injury that hampered him in pre-season.

Burger will miss at least the first three rounds of the competition - which features matches against the Bulls (away), Sharks (away) and Chiefs (at home) - and is expect to return after the bye week in mid-March.

It is the latest setback for the veteran Bok, Burger, who missed the entire 2012 - after rupturing his knee ligaments in the opening match of last year.

While he seemed on track to make his comeback after the knee injury, the calf strain he picked up in the pre-season saw him miss out on the warm-up matches.

What was, initially, just a 'tight calf' became a 'strain' a week later and has now escalated into another four-week lay-off - even though Burger returned to training with the Stormers last week.

"It's a very unfortunate scenario for Schalk -  as first it was the damn knee, but now that the knee is finally better he has picked up a calf strain and it isn't coming right quickly enough for him to start the season for us," Stormers coach Allister Coetzee told a media briefing at the team's headquarters.

"If we were maybe playing a semifinal or something we may have risked Schalk, but at this stage of the season I don't want to risk it.

"It's a simple calf injury, but Schalk does have a history of calf strain and I would like him instead to work on strengthening that calf.

"We will leave it until after the Chiefs game, when we have our bye, before we reassess when Schalk may be ready to return."

* Meanwhile there are first Stormers Super Rugby starts for new recruits Jaco Taute, Elton Jantjies (both on loan from the Lions) and Pat Cilliers (signed from the Lions).

And with another Bok, centre Juan de Jongh (hamstring injury) also sidelined, 21-one-year-old centre Damian de Allende, who started in the 2012 Currie Cup Final, will get his first taste of Super Rugby action.

On the bench, Nizaam Carr (knee) and Dewaldt Duvenage (leg fracture) make their returns are spending some time on the sidelines last year.

Reserve hooker Martin Bezuidenhout (also on loan from the Lions) will be hoping for his first official game time in a Stormers jersey after featuring in pre-season games against the Cheetahs and Boland.

Veteran Springbok lock Andries Bekker will play in his 95th Super Rugby match for the Stormers.

Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Don Armand, 19 Nizaam Carr, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Gerhard van den Heever, 22 Joe Pietersen.

Date: Friday, February 22

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)

Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Rasta Rashivenga (South Africa), Stefan Breytenbach (South Africa)

TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)