Stormers stand-in captain Andries Bekker is keen to test himself against one of the best line-out outfits in the Super 14, which is why he is so excited about his team's tri-series opener against the Western Force at Newlands on Saturday.

While there is no guarantee that Force captain Nathan Sharpe will start, the Perth outfit's team management indicated the Wallaby lock will get some game time at Newlands, as he eases himself back after shoulder surgery.

Bekker, speaking ahead of the Super 14 pre-season series, which also features the Sharks, said he always want to test himself against the best and that is exactly what he plans to do as he looks to continue to evolve his own game.

"They are a very good line-out team," Bekker said about the Force.

"They were one of the best last year, even though the laws were slightly different. A good number of them also play for the Wallabies, so it won't be an easy task, but I think we are well prepared and should be able to do our thing."

Bekker, speaking about the law changes, admitted there will be more emphasis on line-outs this year.

"Also, the law that allows mauling again, those are things we have worked hard on [in the pre-season]," said the man who will stand in as captain for the injured Schalk Burger.

Although Burger is expected to be back for the Stormers' second game, against the Sharks next Friday, Bekker is relishing the opportunity to captain the team again.

"The last time we beat Boland by 80 points, so we hope it is the same," he quipped about his previous captaincy stint.

Looking beyond the Force

But, on a more serious note, he felt it is important that his team look beyond just the result against the Force.

"For me it is all about our structures - make sure we get our scrums right, the line-outs," Bekker said, adding: "We must look at everything, from the restarts through to scoring tries.

"If we can get right the structures we have worked on so hard in the pre-season build-up in will be good. We must tick all those boxes."

Stormers coach Allister Coetzee also spoke about the need to not get hung up too much about the result, although a win will be a timely boost.

"We will be finalising our Super 14 squad after the weekend's game," Coetzee said, adding: "We will look wider than just the team playing the Force.

"It is a great opportunity for a youngster like JJ Engelbrecht, a guy like Pieter Myburgh coming back from injury and a guy like Lionel Cronje.

"We want to see how the youngsters adapt to a higher level and also how our so-called first-stringers will adapt to the intensity.

"You put the work in [during training], but it is never under the kind of pressure that you get in a super 14 game.

"It is going to be interesting to see how we perform under a bit of pressure at that level.

"It is important, like Dries [Andries Bekker] said, we've got systems that we would like to see how it works, and if it is not working there is time for us to change things.

"The good thing about this tri-series is that it does not give you a false sense of security where you play against club sides or B-Section provincial outfits and you score 12/13 easy tries.

"This is great because you play against international players, the likes of Ryan Cross and Nathan Sharpe.

"We can use this game as a platform to build for the Sharks [next Friday].

"Also, every game is important - to ensure every player gets at least two full games before our opening game [of the Super 14 season] against the Lions on February 13."