After winning the Currie Cup final and acquiring the services of World Cup winner Jake White as their director of rugby, most of the attention in the build-up to the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season has been hogged by the Sharks, but the Stormers claim they prefer it that way.

This time last year, on the basis that they were the reigning domestic champions and had also won the South African Super Rugby conference in both years of the new format, the talk was all about the Stormers. There was an air of expectation in the Cape, and even outside of the region there were rugby people installing the Stormers not only as conference favourites, but also a good bet to win the competition for the first time.

SuperSport

There is a theory though that the Stormers are better off as underdogs, and word from around the camp is that they are comfortable with the lower expectations as they enter the season much more under the radar than they were 12 months ago.

But while expectations may have been lowered, the Stormers should still be quietly confident. While the Currie Cup final is the game everyone remembers, the coaches and players will not have forgotten the confidence that was built through the momentum of an unbeaten run that stretched from the end of May through to October, with the Stormers winning the last five games of Super Rugby and Western Province going unbeaten through the league phase of the domestic competition.

You don’t build up a head of steam like that if you are a bad side, and while the Sharks won the game that counted (just as WP did the year before), there were three successive wins for the premier Cape team over their coastal rivals before that (the Newlands Super Rugby match followed by the two Currie Cup league fixtures).

So it would be hard to justify any sense of certainty to the view that the Sharks will be the South African side to beat this year. While the Durban side does boast impressive depth, there isn’t necessarily that much of a gap between them and the Stormers – if indeed there is any.

The Stormers’ chances though of getting back into the winning ways that saw them top the log in 2012 and make three successive Super Rugby semi-finals before last year’s hiccup do though hinge on several important factors, not least of them being the perennial question about the lack of bulk and height in their back three.

The return to fitness of former Lions Bok Jaco Taute will at least partially answer that problem, but the idea of the diminutive duo of Gio Aplon and Cheslin Kolbe being able to play together in the same back three in Super Rugby like they did in the Currie Cup is fanciful. The Sharks showed that up in the Currie Cup final.

Both Aplon and Kolbe are outstanding players, but you fancy there is only place for one of them in the same team, and the great career that beckons for the latter may well come after Aplon retires or goes overseas.

The problem has been recognised by the Stormers’ brains-trust, which was why they tried so hard in the off-season to source a big wing from elsewhere. There was a Samoan on their radar, but that negotiation fell through, and the season will start without the longed for acquisition of a player built like the Brumbies’ Henry Speight.

There is a potential solution, but it is doubtful the Stormers will consider it. Jean de Villiers started his international career on the left wing, and with Damian de Allende enjoying an impressive Currie Cup before his backward step in the final, and Juan de Jongh eager to make an impression in the midfield, it would be possible for all three players to be accommodated in the same starting team.

Why it probably won’t be considered, at least initially, is because De Villiers was so outstanding last year as a centre. And he is the team captain.

Bryan Habana was joined at the end of the year by Gerhard van den Heever when it comes to experienced wings/back three players who have now departed the Cape for greener pastures in the northern hemisphere, so this is one area of potential weakness. A lot could depend on coach Allister Coetzee’s willingness to switch De Villiers and the development of the bulkily built youngster, Pat Howard.

The other area of concern for the Stormers should be lock, where the departure of the more than two metres of freaky human being that is Andries Bekker has been made doubly problematic by the injury that will sideline Springbok behemoth Eben Etzebeth until two months into the competition.

Fortunately the Stormers had already recruited Argentine international Manuel Carizza, and the experienced Puma has already made a strong impression in early season training. The promising former age-group star Ruan Botha is also now over the injury that sidelined him in his first year in the Cape after coming down from the Lions, and big things are expected of him.

Talking about big things, there is a lot of positive talk about Ollie Kebble, the talented son of former Springbok, Natal and Western Province strongman Guy. Before he was injured towards the end of the season, Kebble made a strong contribution to the successful WP under-21 campaign, both on and off the field, and he has impressed in pre-season training.

With Super Rugby finally following the rest of the world by allowing the eight man replacement bench, Kebble could well find a place in the Stormers match day squad, and could use that as leverage to launch his senior career in the same way that Etzebeth did two years ago.

Tim Swiel has gone to Durban but the Cape is always a fertile breeding ground for young talent and over the past few seasons Coetzee has done a good job of bringing through new players. Players who are little known at this point could be household ones in a few months.

STORMERS IN A NUTSHELL

Squad and background

BACKS: Jaco Taute, Gio Aplon, Cheslin Kolbe, Scott van Breda, Pat Howard, Damian de Allende, Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh, Michael van der Spuy, Pat Howard, Demetri Catrakilis, Peter Grant, Kurt Coleman, Gary van Aswegen, Nic Groom, Louis Schreuder.

Backline players who have departed: Bryan Habana, Gerhard van den Heever, Dewaldt Duvenage, Joe Pietersen, Elton Jantjies.

Off-season acquisition: Scott van Breda, who played for the Kings last season, is on trial in the pre-season. Demetri Catrakilis is back in the Cape after playing for the Kings last year.

Comeback: Jaco Taute hardly played last year but is fit again and ready to start.

Youngsters to watch: Cheslin Kolbe was outstanding in his debut Currie Cup season. He’s just 19 years old. But the Stormers need a big wing and Pat Howard, a graduate from the successful WP junior sides, could just fit the bill. Damian de Allende is now growing in confidence after a full season of Currie Cup rugby.

Speculation point: The back three is short of big players though Taute will be a welcome addition at fullback.

Second speculation point: Peter Grant never played last year because of injury. After just playing Japanese club rugby for past two years, how ready will he be to spearhead the Stormers from No10.

FORWARDS: Duane Vermeulen, Nizaam Carr, Schalk Burger, Siya Kolisi, Rynhardt Elstadt, Michael Rhodes, Deon Fourie, De Kock Steenkamp, Tazz Fuzani, Manuel Carizza, Ruan Botha, Brok Harris, Frans Malherbe, Ollie Kebble, Steven Kitshoff, Pat Cilliers, Tiaan Liebenberg, Scarra Ntubeni.

Absent: Eben Etzebeth will only be back from injury in April. He will be missed.

Departures since last season: Andries Bekker is undeniably the big departure among the forwards. He is playing in Japan. Don Armand is playing in England. Martin Bezuidenhout was on loan from the Lions last year.

Acquisition: Manuel Carizza is an experienced test player with Argentina and will be looked at to off-set the loss of Bekker.

Area of potential concern: There was a lot of depth at lock last year but the departure of Bekker to Japan and the injury to Etzebeth will leave a massive hole to fill. But there is also some utility value at forward in the sense that Rynhardt Elstadt has played No4 lock in the past with great success and there is no reason he shouldn’t be used there again. Michael Rhodes can also play both blindside flank and lock.

The big question: Will Schalk Burger make a successful comeback. He has been named as the team vice-captain.

The 2014 draw: The Stormers have an interesting fixture list this year, with a bye on the weekend when the other South African teams open the competition. They play two games in South Africa before heading overseas on a tough away tour that includes fixtures against top teams.