Deon Fourie eases hooker concerns with a ‘tough’ shift against Tonga

Springboks forward Deon Fourie produced a man-of-the-match performance at hooker against Tonga on Sunday.

South Africa now face an anxious wait to see if they will, in fact, progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup, with the Ireland-Scotland game next week deciding their fate.

However, one concern has undoubtedly been eased from the 49-18 victory over Tonga: Fourie’s ability to fill in at hooker.

First Test start in the front-row

The Springboks’ coaches made the bold call to back Fourie and Marco van Staden to cover the hooker role when Malcolm Marx was ruled out of the World Cup, and Handre Pollard was called into the squad.

On Sunday, it was less of a matter of Fourie simply filling the role but actually thriving in it.

He played a full 80 minutes against Tonga, shifting into the openside flanker role for the final 20, and put in a battle-hardened performance against a tough Pacific Island outfit.

The oldest Springbok Test debutant has gone from strength to strength since earning his first cap in July last year, and he has even got the added leadership responsibility of skippering the side in the final minutes against Argentina in the Rugby Championship and Ireland last week.

On Sunday against Tonga, he was his usual busy self around the park, notching up 11 tackles, missing just once, and getting a good shoulder on the massive Ben Tameifuna.

The 37-year-old was a menace at the breakdown once again, coming up with three turnovers while gaining 19 metres from his 13 carries and passing on three occasions.

He has made a career of being a lively forward on both sides of the ball, and despite getting on in age, he has not let that side of his game slip.

However, there were never really issues around Fourie’s ability around the park but rather at the set-pieces, but again, he was excellent in both scrum and lineout on Sunday.

While Fourie had one skew lineout throw against Ireland, he was superbly accurate against Tonga, finding his jumper 12 out of 13 times. The one time he didn’t, former Wallaby lock Adam Coleman managed to outjump Marvin Orie in the lineout. While it was not the best throw from Fourie, it certainly wasn’t a poor one. His accurate throwing also led to his own five-pointer, his second try for the Springboks – both coming in World Cup matches.

On the whole, South Africa were dominant in the scrums, with Fourie at hooker and Ox Nche and Vincent Koch on either side of him. There were one or two scrums later in the game that Tonga managed to draw a penalty, but none had much to do with Fourie.

Deon Fourie on his performance

“It was a good game,” the hooker sporting a massive smile. “We expected a tough game.

“I’ve played hooker earlier in my career, so it wasn’t too bad; it went well today, and I’m glad. I trained there for the last two years with the Boks, and our motto is: we train how we play. That paid dividends today.”

He added: “I must say it’s quite tough moving from hooker to flanker. The body is old, but I did a good job.”

READ MORE: Springboks v Tonga: Five takeaways from a Rugby World Cup game filled with pride and respect