VIDEO: Is this the end of the road for Deon Fourie?
The most venerated Cinderella story in South Africa could have a horror ending.
Deon Fourie, who was one of the 2023 World Cup Final heroes, may have come to the end of a storied career.
Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson revealed that Fourie, 38, suffered a tibia fracture in the heart-stopping 34-29 win over Connacht in a bruising Round 15 United Rugby Championship encounter in Cape Town on Saturday.
It follows the news that double World Cup winner Frans Malherbe’s back injury has resurfaced, and has also placed uncertainty over his career. (Read more here!)
Fourie took to the field as a replacement in the 62nd minute, and less than a minute later, he hobbled off with a leg injury.
* To read the full match report, CLICK HERE!
While he still has to undergo scans, Dobson suggested that he fractured the larger of the two bones in the lower leg, also known as the shinbone.
Having undergone knee surgery after suffering a serious knee injury, an ACL tear, in April 2024 while playing for the Stormers against La Rochelle in the Champions Cup, he also recently suffered a bad concussion.
However, if it is a tibia fracture, it could mean up to six months or more on the sidelines and, potentially, the end of his career.
(WATCH as Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson gives his second horror injury update in a week…..)
“I don’t know where this leaves us or him,” a distraught Dobson told @rugby365com.
“[Fellow loose forward] Keke [Morabe] was sidelined with that [a similar injury] for close to a year.
“You have to do the maths. That probably puts him at the crossroads [of his career].
“I hope that is not the case.
“It depends on the nature of the break.”
The Stormers boss said Fourie was adamant, after the knee injury against La Rochelle, that he did not want to finish his career on a golf cart – being carted off the field injured.
“Knowing Deon, he will say I am not finishing it like that.
“Let’s hope.”
It would indeed be a sad end for Fourie, should it be the case.
Having made his Springbok debut against Wales in 2022 at age 35, he played 75 minutes of the 12-11 World Cup Final win over New Zealand in Paris in October 2023.
@king365ed
@rugby365com
