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I actually agree with all of this.
That being said, a wing is more easily replaced than a key loose forward or midfielder. Bekker is arguably their biggest loss, though the South Africans seem to spit out world class locks every year or two
To some extent I agree; I mean of course losing SA's best winger and a very reliable goal kicker on top of the tallest guy in SR is going to hurt BUT like Invictus said a winger only counts for so much as opposed to key positions where I feel we are better off than we have been for the last 3 years. So to argue that we are in a better spot now (assuming fitness here which we have a problem with every year);
2 Scarra Ntubeni is not as much of a handful as Deon Fourie in the loose but can actually scrum and put the ball in straight and high whereas Fourie went either skew or so low that our line-out was a lottery with him at hooker. Tiaan Liebenberg on the other hand was good at his core functions but tended to get turned over ball in hand and get involved in too much off the ball stuff. So all in all I think the improvement we've seen from the WP front row with the young guys in Ntubeni and Malherbe will carry over for the Stormers.
3 Frans Malherbe (injured almost all of last year) is a big young lad and is growing as class TH seemingly every game he plays. The new scrum engagement sequence suits him very well indeed. Our scrum is now a strong point (relatively speaking to most scrums in the comp) as opposed to a place where we only hope for parity. That said we aren't gonna push the better scrums around yet but should at least get quality ball most of the time and be able to put them under a bit of pressure on their ball. Seein g as the combo of Kitshoof, Ntubeni and Malherbe are 21, 22 and 22... well, if they can keep improving and if we can add another strong scrumming lock.
Bekker is a loss sadly and has been a consistent performer in SR but what we lost in Bekker we gain in Etzebeth is how I try to see it. Pity the two couldn't really play together.
6 (our 'open-side')Our backrow now has better balance with the inclusion/conversion of Deon Fourie to a true open-side fetcher. Vermeulen adds to our presence at the breakdown while Fourie and Kolisi have the pace and athleticism to balance Vermeulen's donkey work though I have to give it to Vermeulen he has started to add to his game in the lose and has developed quite a knack for breaking the line in the mid field with an effective if clumsy-ish off load. Than we have Schalk Burger on the bench making his come-back from near-death literally.
9/10 Our halves won't make any tier 1 test sides (even benches I'd imagine) but in the young combo of Louis Schreuder and Demetri Catrakilis we have an improved set of halves IMO even though in the Currie Cup final they fared miserably and fell off the pace they set during the regular season. TBF Catrakilis got put under immense pressure from Schreuder having an off day and our pack being beaten back by a Springbok laden and hungry Sharks pack. Hopefully they can build on the good and forget the bad. The big concern here is our kicking game. Catrakilis has the same major weakness Peter Grant has and that is a true lack of distance and sides like the Sharks and Crusaders who match and even better our forward packs can simply camp in our 22 and feed off the opportunities. We tend to not give many opportunities away but if we can't get out of our own 22 then we won't have any ourselves so..
Centers. Damian de Allende is an exciting young center at 21. Strong and celver running and the perfect foil for JdV. My worry here is that AC has tended to play JdV at 13 and De Allende at 12 which boggles my mind as JdV has been in the form of his life at 12 and De Allende IMO is better suited to 13 in any case. I assume/hope this sorts itself out over the length of the season. While we've missed Jaque Fourie De Allende is a better option than we've had for the last 2 years and with JdV in fine form I say we are way better off.
Back three we won't miss Habana, Van den Heever or Pietersen IMO. I don't mean to sound dismissive but Van den Heever has just not impressed since leaving the Bulls and not having space. He is a fine runner but does not suit WP?Stormers and is not as good a footballer as a pure sprinter. Pietersen you can trust at goal kicking but he has no distance on his kicks which we need desperately with our 10 having the same issue. His lack of size means he gets truned over more often than not in tight games. Catrakilis has his faults but goal kicking is not one. Jaco Taute at 15 if for nothing else (he is solid on defence and has some pace for a FB) has a booming boot. I'd play him at 15 for that alone. Sadly he is still out injured but should be back in action next year some time. I still feel we need one gigantor wing to balance the size we have given away over the last few years in Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon, Brian Habana and now even smaller Cheslin Kolbe (68kgs!!!). Between Aplon and Kolbe space will be exploited but I fear for those tight matches where there isn't space and where every meter these guys get driven back and every ball they lose in contact means more pressure and we have shown little aptitude for chasing down games we fall behind in. We've had this problem a while though so even though its a problem its not a new one. If Taute gets back I'd actually say we've gone up a tiny notch (even if purely tactically/positionally because of his distance in kick returns).
I don't see us lifting the cup but I think we'll put in a good challenge for a play-off spot and even though anything can happen on the day I think we have a few weaknesses still and this squad is still very young with the 1st choice starting XV having a ton of guys aged 20/21/22; Kitshoff, Ntubeni, Melherbe, Etzebeth, Kolisi, De Allende, Taute and Kolbe while Screuder and Catrakilis are only 23 and 24.. so maybe with another year or two of experience and clever signings (.. and some depth to our game plan which has become dumbed down under AC IMO) we can make another hard psuh.
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