The Stormers have retained Jean de Villiers as captain for the Super 15 with fit-again Schalk Burger named vice-captain.

The Stormers kept with Springboks skipper De Villiers after he took over the leadership of the Cape Town-based team when Burger was injured in 2012.

“Jean and Schalk are both top-class rugby players and leaders who also happen to be very close friends,” Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said on Wednesday,

The pair went to the same high school and university.

The 30-year-old Burger made his return to top-level rugby late last year following nearly two years out with a succession of injuries and also illness after contracting bacterial meningitis.

The 2004 world player of the year has made 68 test appearances for the Springboks but his last was in 2011.