Veteran Springboks and Stormers star is set to make his long awaited return to action this weekend after being named to play for Western Province in the Currie Cup.
Veteran Springboks and Stormers star Deon Fourie is set to make his long awaited return to action this weekend after being named to play for Western Province in the Currie Cup.
He has been sidelined for more than four months after he broke his leg while in action for the Stormers during a United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Connacht in Cape Town in April.
Set to return via the replacements bench
Fourie has made a full recovery from his injury and was named amongst WP’s replacements for their Currie Cup clash with the Pumas at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.
WP are yet to win a Currie Cup game this year and Fourie is among some Stormers players in need of game-time ahead of the start of this season’s URC.
The stormers‘ campaign kicks off against defending champions Leinster at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on September 26.
Fourie revealed earlier in the week that his recovery is on track and that he is looking forward to making a return to action.
“I’m burning to get back onto the field,” said Fourie earlier this week. “I’m not far off from returning. We’re busy with our pre-season training, so we’ll see how things go.
“There are Currie Cup matches this weekend and next, and hopefully I can play in one of them.”
There were fears that the 38-year-old’s career was over when he suffered his injury against Connacht but he signed a one-year contract extension with the Stormers earlier this year.
In 2022, Fourie became the oldest springboks debutant of all-time when he came off the bench against Wales in Bloemfontein at the age of 35
He soon cemented his place in the Springboks squad and had a pivotal role in the Boks’ Rugby World Cup success when he played 77 minutes off the bench in the final at hooker.
The 13-Test utility forward missed the entire 2024 international season due to a knee injury but was still invited to a Springboks alignment camp earlier this year.
Fourie will offer back-row cover for WP against the Pumas on Saturday and the men from the Cape’s head coach Labeeb Levy is looking forward to the clash in front of their home crowd.
“It has been four straight matches on the road from us and we can all clearly remember the fantastic support we got in our opening match at DHL Stadium,” he said.
The team is highly motivated to put in a good performance for our loyal supporters. We have been reinforced by a few experienced players, although we have also been hit with some injuries so we are aiming to put together an 80-minute performance and make the most of every moment out there.”
Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Jared Africa, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 8 Louw Nel (c), 7 Connor Evans, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Riley Norton, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Deon Fourie, 20 De Wet Marais, 21 Asad Moos, 22 Ronald Brown, 23 Brendan Venter
Date: Saturday, August 30
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 19:20 local (18:20 BST, 17:20 GMT)
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU), Lulutho Matomela (SARU)
TMO: Archie Moko (SARU)
