The DHL Stormers have finished their training camp in Hermanus and have also appointed their leadership for the season.

We also bring news on Nizaam Carr, who did not take part in the training camp but in stead was hospitalised due to a viral infection.

By now, the rumours of Duane Vermeulen’s departure overseas have also been laid to rest, we discuss it below.

Seabelo Senatla, the speedster, will only join the Stormers in a couple of months due to his dual committments with the South African Sevens side, more hereunder.

Traning Camp in Hermanus:

The Stormers are continuing preparation for their 2015 Super Rugby campaign with team-building exercises and on-field training which dominated a camp just outside of Cape Town.

The team arrived in Hermanus early on Tuesday evening where they were treated to a braai at their sea-side base.

On Wednesday, the entire playing squad set out on a team-building session, which saw them go abseiling in the mountains and swimming in the ocean, where they also interacted with local lifeguards who addressed the squad.

After a busy Wednesday, the team then gathered for a social function where they had a braai and enjoyed each other’s company in a less pressurised environment – once again with some meat on coals!

On Thursday morning, the squad started with an early team meeting at their hotel before doing their first field session of the training camp under the watchful eye of SA Rugby breakdown specialist, Richie Gray, who has spent the week with the Stormers – having last week visited the Bulls as part of the SA Rugby High Performance Mobi-Unit.

After a spot of lunch and a quick recovery session, the players headed back to Hermanus Primary School for their second session of the day.

On Friday, their last day on camp, the players will start off with a team meeting once again before their final training session of the week at Hermanus Primary – an open session between 10-11am for the public, who will have an opportunity to meet their favourite players and get autographs after training.

The 2015 captain and vice-captain was also revealed to the media shortly before lunch-time (more hereunder), as the team begins to ramp up its preparations ahead of their pre-season matches which get underway next weekend (vs SWD on 24 January, vs Cheetahs on 30 January and vs Boland on 7 February) before their Super Rugby campaign opens on 14 February.

Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee said, “It’s been a busy few days, but it’s been valuable spending this time together.

“We have one more session left and we’re looking forward to getting through even more (tomorrow) before returning home on Saturday morning.”

A few players sat out training on Thursday with minor niggles, most notably flanker Siya Kolisi and centre Johnny Kotze, whilst new Springbok flanker Nizaam Carr is not on camp after being admitted to hospital earlier this week with a viral infection.

The full Stormers injury report:

• Prop Frans Malherbe (ankle) and locks Jean Kleyn (AC Joint) and Ruan Botha (ankle) all continue to respond well to treatment from their long-term injuries. They are progressing well with their current on-field training load.
• Flanker Nizaam Carr was admitted to hospital earlier this week for precautionary reasons after contracting a viral infection.
• Flanker Siya Kolisi (tight hamstring) sat out today and will remain sidelined until Monday as a precautionary measure.
• Centre Johnny Kotze suffered a minor ankle sprain earlier this week and will be out of action for approximately seven days.

Duane Vermeulen gets captaincy for 2015 and dismisses overseas rumours:

Springbok star Duane Vermeulen will captain the Stormers in 2015, in the absence of injured Springbok Jean de Villiers.

Western Province’s Currie Cup-winning captain Juan de Jongh was named as his vice-captain for the upcoming Super Rugby season.

Vermeulen, 28, is highly-regarded as a leader in the Stormers set-up and he captained the team on the odd occasion during 2014 – most notably in the team’s memorable 21-19 win over the Sharks in Durban.

The powerful No 8 will head into the 2015 season with 78 Stormers caps behind his name since 2009 – along with 29 Springbok appearances.

He will have a more than able deputy in the shape of centre Juan de Jongh – the 26-year-old having made 69 appearances for the franchise since 2010.

“Both Duane and Juan are long-time and key members of the Stormers playing squad,” Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee said.

“They know the culture well and will inspire those around them in what is the toughest provincial competition in world rugby.

“We have a very, very young playing squad – both Duane and Juan are young leaders themselves, but they are the right men to take this team forward in the absence of Jean de Villiers and with Schalk Burger joining us only when his Japanese club commitments come to an end.”

The Stormers have spent the past few days on camp in Hermanus, a 38-man group having done some team-building activities on Wednesday and stepping up their on-field training on with a double session on Thursday.

There are six new faces in the Stormers’ pre-season group, two of whom are still Under 21 and four of whom have graduated from the 2014 league-topping Western Province Under 21 side.

“It will be a big challenge for us this year with our young squad and young leadership group, which makes Duane and Juan’s roles that much more important,” Coetzee said.

“In the past our leadership groups were able to rely on experienced campaigners like Deon Fourie, Tiaan Liebenberg, Pat Cilliers, Brok Harris, De Kock Steenkamp, Peter Grant and Gio Aplon, but there are no such luxuries this year for Duane and Juan.

“It might appear daunting for us, but it also gives us an opportunity to build some more depth in the process, which we were able to do during last season when new, young Stormers players like Alistair Vermaak, Ruan Botha, Kobus van Wyk and Cheslin Kolbe – to name a few – all emerged strongly during the Super Rugby season.”

The Stormers will open their 2015 Super Rugby campaign against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday 14 February.

Their first home game is against the Blues, at Newlands, on Saturday 21 February.

Before then, however, the 2011 and 2012 SA Conference winners will participate in three pre-season friendlies – against SWD (24 January – away), the Cheetahs (30 January – home) and the Boland Cavaliers (7 February – away).

Those pre-season match details will be confirmed by the start of next week.

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There is no truth in reports that Toulon have won the race for services of in-demand Springbok star Duane Vermeulen.

The latest rumours to emerge from the French and British media claim that the European champions, Toulon, have secured his signature.

French magazine L’Equipe claimed this week the 28-year-old loose forward has “finally accepted the contract proposed by Mourad Boudjellal”.

However, this has been dismissed as “absolutely not true” by the player’s agent, Stephan Weyers.

“First it was Saracens, then Bath and now Toulon,” Weyers said, adding: “Who will it be tomorrow, a Japanese club?”

The rumours linking the 29-times capped Bok to the French club claimed that English Premiership club Bath – who was reportedly prepared to offer him £650,000 (ZAR8,68-million) per season – have pulled out of the race to sign him.

Vermeulen’s fellow Bok loose forward Francois Louw was reportedly the driving forced behind Bath’s attempts to lure him to England.

It has subsequently been suggested that Vermeulen, who was shortlisted as a World Rugby Player of the Year last year, would link up with the French giants after the World Cup – which takes place in England in September and October.

His contract with Western Province and the Stormers expire on 31 October, while his contract with the South African Rugby Union expire on 31 December.

Weyers said that they – the agent and player – are not allowed to enter into any formal negotiations until the transfer window opens later this year – 1 July for South African teams and 1 September for international outfits.

It does not mean the player is not on the wishlist of numerous cash-flush clubs in Europe.

However, it is premature to claim Toulon have already won the race.

Vermeulen could still be convinced to stay on in South Africa, as he has been earmarked to take over the Bok captaincy from the injured Jean de Villiers – who is in a race against time to be fit or the World Cup after suffering a horrible knee injury in the final match of the Boks’ year-end tour, a 6-12 loss to Wales.

Toulon had earlier this year secured the services of veteran All Blacks centre Ma’a Nonu,

Other South Africans on the books of Toulon include Juan Smith, Bakkies Botha, Gerhard Vosloo, Craig Burden, Michael Claassens and Vermeulen’s Bok and former Stormers teammate Bryan Habana.

And the list of high-profile imports does not end there – the Armitage brothers Steffon and Delon, Martin Castrogiovanni, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Matthew Giteau, Leigh Halfpenny, Carl Joseph Hayman, Juan Martin Hernández, Chris Masoe, Drew Mitchell, Nicolás Sanchez, Ali Williams and Rudi Wulf.

Nizaam Carr in Hospital:

The Stormers have been busy preparing in Hermanus for their Super Rugby season, but one notable exclusion was Springbok flank Nizaam Carr – who was admitted to hospital.

The Stormers have had a busy time of it during their pre-season camp, with team-building exercises and on-field training dominating proceedings ahead of their final day in camp on Friday.

On Thursday the squad started off with their first field session of the training camp, under the watchful eye of Springbok breakdown specialist Richie Gray – who has spent the week with the Stormers, having visited the Bulls the previous week as part of the South African Rugby high performance mobi-unit.

A few players sat out training on Thursday with minor niggles – most notably Bok flank Siya Kolisi and centre Johnny Kotze.

Also, new Springbok flank Nizaam Carr is not at the camp, after being admitted to hospital earlier this week with a viral infection.

Kolisi (tight hamstring) sat out the on-field training and will remain sidelined until Monday as a precautionary measure.

Kotze suffered a minor ankle sprain earlier this week and will be out of action for approximately seven days.

Seabelo Senatla and Sevens duty:

There are pros and cons from a Stormers point of view to wing speedster Seabelo Senatla’s participation in Super Rugby 2015.

On the negative side, the exciting 21-year-old misses the great majority of their ordinary-season programme due to SA Sevens commitments, but the rosier news for Newlands enthusiasts is that he ought to join the fray at a key stage of their run-in, with up to four regular fixtures and then possible involvement in the playoffs phase still ahead.

In response to inquiries this week, after Senatla’s name did not appear among the extended pre-season squad training in Hermanus, the Stormers issued an explanation on their Facebook page: “Seabelo is dual-contracted to WP Rugby and SA Sevens (a unique deal) so he plays for the DHL Stormers / WP when possible, around his SA Sevens commitments.

“In other words, this year he will rejoin us at the end of the last IRB Sevens tournament (mid-May) until October. His aim is still to play for the SA Sevens team until the Olympics.”

What this effectively means is that Senatla — who got a brief, experience-building taste of the Springboks XVs culture on the end-of-year tour as a peripheral member of coach Heyneke Meyer’s troops – can be written off to the Stormers until the weekend of 22 or 23 May at the earliest.

The last leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series is in England on 16 & 17 May.

In the following week, assuming he is ready to be incorporated immediately into the more extended format, the Stormers are at home to the Melbourne Rebels.

Then follow respective home games against the Cheetahs and Lions respectively, plus a potentially pivotal away derby against the Sharks (Saturday 13 June) preceding the finals series, for which Senatla would again be fully available.

For the time being, then, the electric presence in the Currie Cup-winning campaign of 2014 is an absentee, and the Stormers will seemingly pin their faith in back three resources like Cheslin Kolbe, Jaco Taute, Kobus van Wyk and Dillyn Leyds.

Versatile Springbok Damian de Allende can also do duty in a wing berth, although he is more likely to fill the inside centre hole for the Stormers left by the campaign-long absence of injured Bok captain Jean de Villiers.