The Stormers suffered a setback with the news that Springbok centre Juan de Jongh will not play in their Super Rugby season opener against the Hurricanes at Newlands on Saturday.

De Jongh has not made a full recovery from the jaw injury he suffered in the pre-season outing against the Lions.

Fellow Bok Bryan Habana, who featured at outside centre in the pre-season outings, will now start in the No.13 jersey for the first time in a Super Rugby match. He last played a first-class match as an outside centre in a Test against Ireland in 2006, although he was a regular in that position for the Lions two years earlier.

The good news for the Stormers is that lock Rynhardt Elstadt has made good progress in his recovery from an ankle injury and could be ready for the match. A final call on his availability will be made after a fitness test on Wednesday.

First-choice scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage and loose forward Nick Koster are both injury-free and will feature in the matchday 22 this week.

"It’s a big week for us and as a group our focus is on one thing and one thing only - our opener against the Hurricanes on Saturday," coach Allister Coetzee told a media conference on Monday.

"We are well prepared, very motivated and will be going all out to make this a big year." he added.