Veteran World Cup winner Deon Fourie drafted into Springbok squad

Stormers utility forward Deon Fourie talks to the ref during their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry match against the All Blacks at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night. Picture: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has called up veteran utility forward Deon Fourie to the national squad for the forthcoming Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) series against the All Blacks, following his successful return to action from a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury. Fourie suffered a career threatening medial ligament knee injury after a dangerous croc roll from Ulster forward Iain Henderson back in May, and many wondered if he would finally hang up his boots.

But he instead signed on for another season with the Stormers and produced a star performance in his comeback match for his franchise, scoring a try against the All Blacks in theopening game of their RGR tourin Cape Town this past Friday. Having proved his fitness,the 39-year-old, who doubles up as a loose forward and hooker, has now been called up and will join up with the squad in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning. His last Test forthe Springbokswas the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris, where he was thrust into the deep end early in the match after a third minute injury to hooker Bongi Mbonambi and helped the Boks clinch back-to-back titles.

The Rugby World Cup-winner will add invaluable experience to Erasmus’ quality list of forwards for the historic series, which kicks off at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next week Saturday. The match will mark the first of four Tests between the teams in the inaugural series, which will also see the teams meet at the Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town (29 August), the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (5 September), and the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (12 September). The Springboks travelled back to South Africa in two groups from Argentina on Sunday and Monday, with the last group scheduled to arrive in Johannesburg on Tuesday.