South African rugby has always been rich in talent, and teenage sensation Markus Muller is the latest rising star who gained recognition during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
During the 2025 season, Muller was exceptionally prolific, scoring over 36 tries, while he served as the captain of the Paarl Gymnasium First XV and led the South African Schools team.
The versatile midfielder has already been a standout performer at virtually every level of the game, and last year he signed his first professional contract as part of the Stormers’ 2026 intake.
Muller, who already impressed when representing the WP XV at Craven Week, is now slowly being integrated onto the senior stage, and this week the 18-year-old was notably spotted spending some time training with the Stormers in Bellville along with some other youngsters.
Stormers have a star on their hands
Young crop of talent
Last year, the Stormers confirmed that Muller and Paarl Gimnasium teammate loose forward Quintin Potgieter were poised to make the transition to professional rugby this season.
In addition, Rondebosch Boys loose forward Alutha Wesi, centre Randall-John Davids and prop Matt van der Merwe, wing Jordan Steenkamp, hooker Altus Rabe and loose forward Gert Kemp from Paul Roos, Wynberg Boys flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, Boland Landbou scrumhalf Jayden Brits and Grey College lock AJ Meyer all agreed to join the Stormers.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that this strong intake of local talent is extremely encouraging as the Stormers look to build significant depth by drawing on the best that the schools in the Western Cape have to offer.
“We have seen a few big success stories in recent years, with the likes of Damian Willemse, Salmaan Moerat, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, JD Schickerling and Suleiman Hartzenberg all coming through our system to become household names.
“We expect the same to happen with many of these players who will join our environment next year and we are not done here, with a few more significant names set to be added to this list in the near future,” he said.
