John Dobson says handing teenage star Markus Muller his Stormers debut in a high-stakes clash against the Glasgow Warriors is a calculated risk worth taking.
The Paarl Gimnasium product is set to become the youngest Stormer at 18 years, nine months and 19 days. Damian Willemse made his debut in 2017 at the age of 18 years, 10 months and four days.
“We wanted to play Markus this season,” Dobson explained. “He’s a great player and it’s important to show that if you come through our system, you’ll get an opportunity.”
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Dobson revealed that Muller had been in line to play against the Dragons last month, but that SA U20 commitments had ruled him unavailable.
He added that with the likes of Johnny Roche and Josh Boulle coming back from long-term injuries and with Muller fit, it felt like “the right thing” to do.
“Look, he’s a very, very special player. And we really want him to have least one exposure [this season].”
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Dobson said the fact that Saturday’s game could determine who goes top of the URC standings with two rounds to play was not a factor.
“Next week against Ulster will also be a must-win whatever happens tomorrow. Then the game after that [Cardiff] will also be a must-win and then the game after that [a quarter-final].
“Then we would have gotten through the whole season and Markus wouldn’t have had any sort of experience with the Stormers and we really wanted that.
“I don’t want him going to the U20 [World] Championship or [playing in] the Currie Cup without having had this experience. He’s an exception, there’s something special there.”
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Dobson said the Stormers’ 5-3 bench split – with Imad Khan, Jurie Matthee and Muller providing backline cover – acted as a safety net for the young star’s introduction off the bench.
The versatility in the backline also gave the coaching team options as to when and where to introduce Muller.
“Obviously Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] can go to the back [15], Ruhan [Nel] can go into 12, Markus can go there or to 13,” Dobson said.
“Our plan is to give him 10 or 15 minutes at a high level. He’s probably not the first guy on, but we want him to experience it.”
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Markus Muller will become the youngest-ever player to represent our team when he takes the field on Saturday and just the second under the age of 19. You might have heard of the first guy. #inittogether pic.twitter.com/XoGaUu3Ge2
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) April 24, 2026
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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