Rugby World Cup 2023 – Deon Fourie, a happy guinea pig

This very one-sided match was not a blow for nothing for the Springboks. They outclassed the Romanians who were limited in all areas, but above all, their coach Jacques Nienaber allowed himself to experiment: a scrum-half Faf De Klerk at fly-half, a scrum-half Grant Williams on the wing, a hooker Mbonambi who leaves his place to two players who alternated between the first and third row for 40 minutes: Marco Van Staden and Deon Fourie.

This one is a curiosity, he made his international debut at the age of 35 in 2022 after being exiled to Lyon and Grenoble where he played instead with number 8, he even found himself in Pro D2. He therefore made his World Cup debut on Sunday by scoring a try just after coming into play, at the start of the second act.

He opened the door to recall by… Handre Pollard

“I’m happy with this situation. I have my bearings in this position, I have played a lot there for two years, since I returned to South Africa and joined the Springboks.” He experienced this meeting in Bordeaux seriously, not at all as a campaign trip: “On voulawe stayed in our structures, we didn’t want to do anything. But our coaches veuslow to test all options, to face the risks of bTHEsure. This is what happened this week with Ma’s injurylCol. Marx. And then we also wanted to use the speed of our scrum halves in new positions, to see what that would be like. We have this idea of ​​having as many experiences as possible, like the bench with six forwards for example.”

We learned after the match that behind the Van Staden-Fourie duo was not only Marx’s injury, but also the return of star fly-half Handre Pollard, in place of the hooker. Jacques Nienaber. A number 2 instead of number 10, that’s Nienaber rugby, a man that Deon Fourie inevitably sees as his benefactor. A technician who selects not only ultra-specialists, but Proteus men.