Lions
The Lions came close to qualifying for the knockout stages last year but in the end they had to settle for fourth place in their conference.
That was a significant step back for the team that had played in the three previous finals.
To be fair, the Lions had lost a significant chunk of the experience that helped take them to those finals. Now they are trying to plug some of those gaps with the grizzled Jannie du Plessis and Willem Alberts.
The latter, pending the outcome of his medical, can become a vital cog in the Lions' set-up especially after Cyle Brink suffered an injury that may curtail his season. That Achilles injury will come as a hammer blow to the Lions. Brink's ball carrying is formidable but in Alberts, if he gets the green light, they have a like-for-like replacement.
Similarly Du Plessis could provide valuable back-up to Carlu Sadie who will start the season under a concussion cloud. While the Lions look sufficiently stocked in the front row, they look a little thin at lock.
With Warren Whiteley out of the campaign due to lingering injury, they also look short on leadership and back-row options.
With a young coaching staff under inexperienced head coach Ivan van Rooyen the Lions are going to have their work cut out to top the conference.
Stormers
The Stormers are perennial underachievers in Super Rugby but there is a lot of optimism in the Cape. In John Dobson they have a wily and well-wired coach who sees rugby's broad and narrow with the same clarity.
Endowed with several Rugby World Cup winning Springboks, the Stormers have a formidable pack but don't expect them to only bash it up.
Dobson will want to bring balance to their blueprint and he will be desperate to unshackle them from the fear of failure that has gripped their game for so long.
Dobson would have been pleased with the resilience his team displayed in the face of a fired-up Sharks pack in Soweto last week.
They will need similar pluck if they are going to mount a serious challenge in Super Rugby.
In Herschel Jantjies and Damian Willemse they have young, exciting halfbacks who are yet to master the unrelenting grind of Super Rugby. The Stormers' biggest challenge may yet be how they go about their game tactically.
They will be fired up at Newlands in their last season at their famous but crumbling home ground. They have an impressive home record.
The Stormers can get on an early roll. Nine of their first 10 matches are in SA, seven of which will be at home.
The Stormers along with the Sharks are the most likely carriers of the South African torch in this season's Super Rugby competition. It's been 10 years since a local team won Super Rugby. - delcarmel@sundaytimes.co.za
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