Deon Fourie’s enduring quality and versatility demonstrating that age is no barrier

Deon Fourie expressed his admiration for Munster captain Peter O’Mahony as a rugby player when discussing Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) final in Cape Town (5.30 Irish time) in what is very much a case of game recognising game.

The openside flanker, who started his career at hooker, is a formidable presence at the breakdown. His return to fitness following a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the semi-final victory over Connacht is a significant boost for the defending champions.

Fourie said: “Peter O’Mahony is a fantastic player, he has been playing for Ireland for a long time, he is amazing. I don’t really see him as an out-and-out fetcher; a guy like Jac Morgan from last year, he was quite good, I think he won the [URC] award for the most turnovers last year. [Morgan did indeed win that award, thanks to his 24 turnovers throughout the tournament].

“But O’Mahony, he’s just a nuisance at every ruck and sometimes he’ll get that poach, but he’s always just there and in your face and disrupting rucks. So that’ll be a nice challenge, trying to contain him.”

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Fourie’s rugby story is a tale of talent, perseverance and the courage to pursue opportunities abroad, topped off with a belated call-up to Test rugby. The veteran flanker became the oldest debutant for South Africa when Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber named him on the bench – he came on – for the second in the three Test series against Wales in Bloemfontein last summer.

“Someone my age, making your debut at 35 [he is now 36] you have been looking forward to it for a long time. To have my whole family, my wife, and my kids there, to share it with everyone, it was really special.”

Born in Pretoria, he moved to Rustenburg aged eight, and then on to Pokowane, where he played for Hoerskool Pietersburg, a school that has produced four Springboks. They include the great Victor Matfield, a player whom Fourie could, if he makes it to the World Cup in France later this year, eclipse as the oldest to play a Test match for South Africa.

Fourie’s debut for the Stormers in 2008 coincided with the arrival on the coaching ticket of Rassie Erasmus and Nienaber. He led Western Province to the Currie Cup title (2012) but despite being named player of the year, he could not break into Heyneke Meyer’s Springbok squad.

The rugby narrative at the time in South Africa favoured big backrow forwards so players like Fourie and CJ Stander, who went on to play for Munster and Ireland, were overlooked. After the 2014 Super Rugby season he was set to join Toulon but the deal fell through and instead he signed for Lyon.

He moved to Grenoble, spending a year in Pro D2 after the club’s relegation before returning to South Africa in 2021 and rejoining the Stormers. Others may have seen him as more of a squad player initially, but he quickly made himself indispensable to head coach John Dobson, culminating in a man-of-the-match performance in last year’s URC final victory over the Bulls.

He’s yet to face Saturday’s opponents. “I missed out on Munster this year [in April], and last year I missed a game when we played them over at Thomond Park after I broke my cheekbone. I haven’t played Munster in my career yet and am looking forward to testing myself against a quality side like them. I think their record speaks for itself, especially this year, so it’ll be interesting.”

The fact he can play hooker, too, might earn him a plane ticket to the Rugby World Cup in France later this year. He watched with interest the exploits of another openside flanker who demonstrated a decent capacity when it came to lineout throwing.

“I keep my lineout throwing up to scratch. Sometimes in a game it can happen like with Ireland’s game [against Scotland in the Six Nations]. They lost their two hookers and Josh van der Flier had to throw in at the lineout. I played there a long time in my career, maybe more years at hooker than at flank.”

There’s little doubt that he’d be happy just to stick to the backrow on Saturday.

[ Munster v Stormers: Kick-off times, TV channel and team news for the URC final ]