DHL Stormers vs Vodacom Bulls

FEISTY FOURIE ON
FIRE FOR THE FINAL
Deon Fourie was winning turnovers in a DHL Stormers
jersey in 2008. All that has changed is that he is now
winning turnovers in a DHL Stormers jersey.
DHL, who signed with the Stormers and WP in 2011, are
the longest-serving sponsors of professional rugby
in the Western Cape in the history of the union and
franchise, and when reporting on Fourie’s exploits, he
is comfortably the longest-serving of those players
who will front the Vodacom Bulls in
“
the inaugural and historic Vodacom
United Rugby Championship at the DHL
Stadium on Saturday.
Fourie first wore the franchise jersey in
2008, left in 2014 and returned in 2021.
If he was good when he left, he is even
better now and his Springboks squad
selection is confirmation of his class and
reward for his performances this season.
Fourie has played 15 of the DHL Stormers 20
Vodacom URC matches this season and before that he
played six times for DHL Western Province.
He returned to Cape Town after a decade in France’s
Top 14 to mentor youngsters for the provincial side, but
within a fortnight DHL Stormers coach John Dobson
recognised that Fourie was still as good a player as he
was a mentor.
‘He is just world class,’ raved Dobson. ‘He is averaging
four turnovers a game, hugely influential in everything
he does and just an outstanding team player. He can
play in the loosies and he can play hooker. He is a dream
player, in quality, and also a dream individual to have in
the squad as a person. He is just so inspirational.’
Fourie will play his 100th match for the DHL Stormers on
Saturday evening, 15 years after playing his first match.
When he left in 2014, he’d played 85 times for the
DHL Stormers and 90 times for WP. He now sits on 96
matches for DHL WP, with that century sure to come
in the 2022/23 season.
For now, all the attention is on the DHL Stormers and a
100th cap that Fourie had never considered possible when
he left South Africa to seek a new
IF HE WAS GOOD
WHEN HE LEFT,
HE IS EVEN
BETTER NOW”
challenge in France.
It was a challenge he got as a
player and an adventure he enjoyed
individually and with his family.
Fourie played 91 times for Lyon
between 2014 and 2019 and 42 times
for Grenoble between 2019 and 2021.
Wherever he has played, he has
been lauded, as a rugby player and as a person.
‘He has had an exceptional season. His experience,
talent, hard work and sacrifice means a lot to the
squad and hopefully it will be the same for the
country,’ said DHL Stormers captain and Springbok
front rower Steven Kitshoff.
Fourie, despite his incredible season, speaks first of
his younger teammates, their energy, their humility
and the privilege of being a part of their journey.
But you speak to any of the youngsters in the group
and the first name they will mention is Fourie, who,
should he debut internationally later this season, will at
35 years-old become the oldest 1st-Test Springbok in
the country’s history.
18.06.2022 - DHL STADIUM, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA #STOVBUL
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