John Dobson reveals Deon Fourie’s selfless act as Springboks veteran ‘stood himself down’
Stormers forward Deon Fourie and an inset of John Dobson.
Director of rugby John Dobson has hailed Stormers veteran Deon Fourie for his selfless act, with the veteran forward effectively withdrawing himself from the matchday 23 to face Glasgow Warriors.
It’s a top-of-the-table clash in Cape Town with Dobson’s men tackling Franco Smith’s Warriors, colliding with the Capetonians on Saturday.
The Stormers boss has made a host of changes from the team that suffered a crushing defeat to Connacht last week, particularly on the bench, among them the inclusion of teenage sensation Markus Muller.
The Junior Springbok is set to become the youngest player to represent the Stormers when he comes off the bench, but to elevate some of that pressure, Dobson has selected a 5-3 split. It’s a change from the norm for the Stormers this season, who have regularly backed a 6-2.
To compensate for one less forward, Dobson revealed that the initial team featured veteran Fourie, who has been replaced in the starting lineup by Paul de Villiers, as the hooker cover.
That was until the World Cup winner intervened on his own accord. Fourie spent the majority of his career playing in the back row but started off as a hooker. Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber made use of that versatility during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with Fourie playing the majority of the final at hooker after an injury to Bongi Mbonambi.
Deon Fourie’s selfless act
While Dobson was comfortable with backing the 39-year-old to cover the role against a set-piece strong Glasgow outfit, Fourie didn’t believe that it was in the best interest of the team and pressed the director of rugby to select the fit-again JJ Kotzé as reserve hooker instead.
“One of the ways we thought we could configure the bench and get us the extra loose forward was for Deon to cover hooker,” Dobson explained when asked about Fourie’s omission from the matchday 23.
“JJ is coming back from a neck injury, which is not ideal. So, we put Deon as the reserve hooker, and he is trained up. But he came to us yesterday, and it’s a first for me as a coach, normally you get the players coming to your door, asking why I’m not playing? Why did I only get 20 minutes of your plans?
“Deon came in and said, ‘This is not my game. In the interest of the team, I don’t think I should play this game. I think it’s a very high set-piece game. I think JJ’s throwing is in a better space than mine. I’ll get it right.
“We announced the team to the squad with Deon on the bench, and he came in and said, ‘In the interest of the team, I think you should go for JJ.'”
Dobson hailed Fourie for the selfless act, adding, “I think that just speaks volumes because Deon wants to play every minute of every game. If he can show the world that he can still play hooker, he could dare to dream.
“The fact that he stands down at his expense is a remarkable credit to him, so enormous respect to Deon, so Deon is stood down by himself.”
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Different Glasgow challenge
Looking at the challenge ahead, Dobson expects a far bigger challenge from the Warriors compared to the effort Glasgow produced against the Lions last weekend.
Franco Smith’s men were put to the sword by the Lions, who ran in eight tries in a comprehensive 54-12 victory. Glasgow’s starting XV has undergone 10 changes for this weekend’s encounter and Dobson believes that you cannot look into their performance at Ellis Park.
“They made it clear about last week’s selection, you can’t read anything into last week, but they are going to be full metal jacket,” he said.
“It’s one of those games, it’s one versus two on the log. So, it’s an eight or 10-point log point swing.
“They’ve identified this game clearly. It’s also a much easier place as we saw last week – watch Connacht tomorrow. This is a much easier place to play for the northern hemisphere teams than it is up at Ellis Park. So, this is a proper, proper game tomorrow.”
