Stormers brace for nervy fortnight waiting on 'Brannas' as injury curse at No 6 bites

Ideally, the Stormers should be planning for life after Deon Fourie.

Yet the converted loose-forward has not only aged better than brandy, he also remains a central figure for the Stormers.

"Brannas" remains unavailable for the Stormers' last two United Rugby Championship round-robin matches, including Saturday's important clash against Munster at the Cape Town Stadium.

The Stormers (61) need to beat the Limerick-based side to ensure that Ulster (59) work hard to supplant them from second place, which at least guarantees a home final in the event Leinster choke like they did last season.

Fourie has been sidelined by a fracture to his eye socket that keeps him out for the interim, but in better news for Stormers coach John Dobson, there's every possibility of his key veteran being available for the URC quarter-finals.

Dobson though made it clear the 36-year-old from Pretoria, who started out as a hooker, has been significantly missed.

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"He was man of the match against Harlequins, and you could see how poor we were in some of those areas last week," Dobson said.

"He's the ultimate warrior and Stormer, and it's not just in terms of turnovers and slowing down the ball, he's very competitive.

"He helped us significantly with the French referees and he's a competitor in everything that he does, with opposition spending weeks planning around him.

"The good news is that we'll play in a quarterfinal, and he’ll play in that game. Hopefully, we can get through these two weeks without Deon."

Fourie's injury also coincided with knocks that have ruled out fetchers Nama Xaba and Junior Pokomela, further testing the depth in the No 6 jersey.

Dob