Stormers lose Zas and De Jongh

Zas fractured both his Fibula and Tibia in the pre-season friendly against the Lions on Saturday, after coming on as a replacement having recently returned from an unrelated leg injury.

The other major casualty from the 57-40 victory against the Lions was centre Juan de Jongh who tore his medial collateral ligament and will consequently spend around 10-12 weeks on the sidelines.

This double injury blow follows a number of pre-season injury setbacks.

Flank Marnus Schoeman, on loan from the Pumas, was ruled out of the weekend's outing after he suffered a concussion in training last week.

Schoeman, who was originally in the Cape side's plans for the match last Saturday, was brought in to plug the gap left by the injury to Lions signing Stephan de Wit.

De Wit, who broke his ankle in training during the pre-season, was seen as a solution to the Stormers' problems in the openside flank role.

And they still have an injury hangover from last year, with hooker Scarra Ntubeni still busy with rehabilitation from the surgery he underwent late last year to repair a torn Achilles tendon. He is not expected to feature in this year's competition at all.

Springbok capped wing Bjorn Basson has signed to play for the Stormers this year.

"Bjorn is a versatile player whose record speaks for itself and we are excited to add another player with proven quality," said Director of Rugby Gert Smal.

Smal said that Basson's skillset and experience is a significant boost just before the season gets underway.

"In Bjorn we have a player comfortable on the wing or at fullback who is one of the best around under the high ball.

"The influence he will have on our young outside backs cannot be underestimated," he said.

Utility back Joe Pietersen, who had a stint with Biarritz in France after leaving the Stormers and then also played for the Cheetahs and Sharks, has also started training with the Stormers again.