A couple of years ago, Deon Fourie was playing second division rugby in France, but was hungry to contribute to a team playing top-level rugby and that was one of the reasons why he decided to rejoin the Stormers in 2021 – and the hooker/loose forward hasn’t looked back.
Fourie, 36, has since won the United Rugby Championship (URC) with the Cape franchise and, thanks to his exploits in the No 6 jersey, earned himself a call-up to the Springbok squad – something that was not on his radar when he returned.
But he has embraced the opportunity and after being selected as part of the 33-man squad that will be looking to defend their Rugby World Cup title in France from next month, Fourie wants to contribute in any way he can.
He will fulfil a similar role that Schalk Brits did for the team back in 2019 when they won the title in Japan.
“Luckily, Schalk is one of my good mates, so I will definitely have to call him for some tips when he played at the World Cup in 2019,” Fourie joked about his inclusion as one of the elder statesmen.
“I played second division in France and I was not really happy there because I felt I could contribute more (to a different team) and still compete at a higher level than there.
“The chance was there to come back (in 2019) and maybe play for a year or so to see how things go against the younger guys, and now, two years later, I am here, standing on the verge of playing in a World Cup.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Fourie when he joined former URC winners the Stormers.
He had to endure some criticism from Stormers fans over his age and being signed ahead of promising young players in the Western Province Rugby structures.
The versatile forward also broke his cheekbone in his first match and he was out of action for a while. Last year he almost missed the second successive URC final after fracturing his eye socket.
This injury was so hectic that at one stage he almost popped an eyeball while blowing his nose.
“There was a lot of criticism when I returned, and breaking my cheekbone in the first match did not help. You had those saying ‘he is too old’.
“That put pressure on me and I wanted to show that I can still play good rugby. I had a good season with the Stormers and won the URC in the first year, and the rest is history as they say.”
Fourie says he just wanted to bring that experience to the Stormers and it was necessary during a period when experienced players like Bok captain Siya Kolisi, loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit and hooker Bongi Mbonambi left the side.
He had the task to mentor young loosies like Evan Roos (a fellow Bok), Ernst van Rhyn, Marcel Theunissen, BJ Dixon, Nama Xaba, and Junior Pokomela.
Fourie says he feels for Roos after he missed the cut to France.
“He was my roommate, and I feel sorry for him. He is still young but learned so much from Duane (Vermeulen) and Jasper (Wiese) here. And I think he can only get better as a player.
“You never know, injuries happen in a World Cup, and if you look again he might have joined up with us.”
@LeightonK