Deon Fourie on Joe Marler exchange: 'It is not what you think'
REACTION: Seasoned Stormers utility forward Deon Fourie has given his side of the story on the altercation between himself and controversial England prop Joe Marler.
An act of skullduggery by the out-of-favour England prop in his team’s 28-32 Round of 16 European Cup loss to the Stormers last weekend caused a media stir.
Marler felt the need to grab an opponent by the scrotum – a tactic he has been banned for before.
The Stormers’ master poacher Deon Fourie was the victim of the veteran villain’s latest testicle tactics.
Video footage also showed Fourie reacting with indignation and he had to be restrained by his teammates.
* Article continues below the video
However, the Springbok utility – who covers loose forward and sometimes hooker (in an emergency) for the national team – said his reaction had nothing to do with the incident at the ruck.
Fourie, 36, took to social media to clear up the matter.
“Just to set the facts straight between me and Joe Marler,” Fourie said on his Twitter account.
“The scuffle between us was about something else he did while I was sitting on the ground and waiting for the medical staff to clean the blood from my face.
“Nothing else happened. Except 32-28,” he quipped.
Fourie did not respond to a @rugby365com request for a reaction about Marler’s actions at the ruck!
Hi Deon, we are still keen to know what happened at that ruck … his hand was definitely at a place where it should NOT have been🤔
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) April 6, 2023
