SOUTH AFRICA — Stormers coach Allister Coetzee says Schalk Burger is still not ready to return to action after twelve months on the sidelines.
Early last year, Burger suffered a knee injury which has since healed.
But then three weeks ago, he suffered with a troublesome calf and Coetzee said on Wednesday that he was unable to forecast when the burly Springbok flanker will be ready to lead the Stormers.
"Schalk's knee is fine and it is stronger than ever but although he's training, he's not ready to play," said Coetzee.
"Schalk will not be considered for next week's match against the Brumbies and we don't really want to guess when he will be playing.
"There are improvements in terms of his fitness and his strength, but it's not where it should be."
A number of first-choices, most notably number eight Duane Vermeulen, did not participate in Wednesday's training session in Bellville.
"All the players sitting on the benches are nursing niggles, but nothing serious," said Coetzee.
"All the players will be up for selection against the Brumbies, and we'll have Jaco (Taute), Juan (De Jongh) and Michael Rhodes back. We have a bye this week and that gives us a chance to reflect and work on the things that will decide how we'll play against the Brumbies.
Coetzee said that his team won't be carried away by their superb display against the reigning champions, the Chiefs, last weekend.
"Our players have a culture of strong defence but we also know that we won't keep on winning matches by simply kicking penalties," he said.
"We've had a slight tweak in mindset and that has allowed us to play more with the ball. That, however, makes us prone to mistakes and we're still working hard to find the balance between defence and attack.
"It is unlikely that there will be changes for the Brumbies game because we need to build the confidence of players."