Bok scrum coach backs almost-40 Deon Fourie as one of SA’s best scrummagers
· Citizen
The oldest-ever Springbok, Deon Fourie, received heaps of praise from Bok scrum coach Daan Human on Tuesday, as South Africa gears up for their third Test against the All Blacks in Soweto on Saturday.
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The match will be crucial with the series level at 1-1, as only a victory will give either side the chance to win the four-Test series outright.
Deon Fourie the go-to man
Fourie, who turns 40 later this month, was only drafted into the Springbok squad shortly before the series to bolster depth and experience at hooker, with Bongi Mbonambi injured, Marco van Staden and Jan-Hendrik Wessels rested, and Johan Grobbelaar and André-Hugo Venter perhaps not doing enough in their two appearances each for the Springboks this year to earn replacement spots for World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx.
Head coach Rassie Erasmus said he had called Fourie up to provide versatility (playing flanker too) in case of injuries, and for his leadership and calmness.
“He was always in that bracket where if we sometimes have to push the emergency button, he’s one of those players,” Erasmus said.
As it turrned out, Fourie was favoured to start ahead of Marx against the All Blacks in Cape Town, before being subbed after 35 minutes, along with Gerhard Steenekamp.
Erasmus said he swapped the starting front row less than an hour before the game because they had first thought it would rain when they named the team.
Apart from missing a throw and missing a tackle in the build-up to Damian McKenzie’s try, Fourie had a decent outing.
‘A lot of experience’
“Although he hasn’t played a lot of Test matches yet… in these Test matches we need a lot of experience, which I think he has,” Human said about Fourie.
“He played hooker and flank from a very young age. So I think he is able to handle these situations, like he did in the [2023] World Cup final.”
Fourie is set to play from the bench in Soweto on Saturday.
“Surely he’s in form. I think he’s a big competitor and in my opinion one of the – I don’t want to say underrated – but one of the strongest scrummagers in South Africa,” said Human.
“That is how I rate him. Otherwise I’d have never put up my hand to say listen, we should pick this guy.”
Human declined to comment whether the front row would change just before the game, depending on weather. He opted to rather leave that to Erasmus to divulge in due course.