Paarl Gimnasium centre Markus Muller is among a strong group of schoolboys to commit their futures to the Stormers.
Muller has scored more than 20 tries this season, with four hat-tricks and three braces, and is the favourite to wear the SA Schools No 13 jersey later this year.
Paarl Gim loose forward Quintin Potgieter; Rondebosch 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 flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed; Boland Landbou scrumhalf Jayden Brits; and Grey College lock AJ Meyer have also all agreed to join the Cape franchise next year.
Director of rugby John Dobson said 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 Western Province U21 win two consecutive national titles, with many of those players going on to feature for the Stormers too.
“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 an 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.”
Dobson said this strong intake of local talent is extremely encouraging as the Stormers 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.”
