Old man Deon Fourie talks the talk and walks the walk for Stormers

Cape Town - These days, it takes a “day or two longer” for Deon Fourie to recover from putting his head into those dark spaces at the breakdowns.

But it proved to be worth all the effort for the Stormers openside flank last Saturday at Cape Town Stadium, as he produced a man-of-the-match performance in the 20-10 United Rugby Championship victory over the Sharks.

Fourie, now 35, led Western Province to the Currie Cup title in 2012 with an epic win over the Sharks in Durban, and was part of a successful period at the Stormers under Allister Coetzee, where they reached the final in 2010 and the playoffs on a number of occasions.

Now back in Cape Town after spending seven years in France at Lyon and then Grenoble, Fourie – who was first a hooker before shifting to the loose trio – felt that he had a point to prove last weekend, after he was yellow-carded and conceded several penalties in the previous week’s 22-22 draw at Kings Park.

“I was disappointed in myself a bit in the weekend before against the Sharks in Durban – I think I got a bit too hot under the collar! And I wanted to give more to the team this past weekend,” Fourie said.

“I just wanted to bring a positive thing into the team, and I disappointed myself in that. My focus was just to bring back what I am good at, and fortunately that happened this weekend. Hopefully we can keep doing that, week-in and week-out.”

Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani – who also played alongside Fourie as a lock – praised the veteran fetcher for his contribution to the team.

“Funnily enough, we were both born in Limpopo, our schools were close by to each other … So, we always got along really well as players. Deon was a very good hooker, and then he slotted into flank – I think he