Stormers without star fetcher Fourie 'for quite a while'

The Stormers are bracing for a period without their talismanic flanker Deon Fourie.

Fourie missed last Saturday’s 42-17 Champions Cup quarter-final defeat to Exeter Chiefs due to a fractured eye socket.

The 36-year-old suffered the injury in their 32-28 home win over Harlequins the previous week.

After bowing out of the Champions Cup, the Stormers have shifted their focus back to the URC with a home game against Munster lying in wait this Saturday. 

Stormers coach John Dobson confirmed that Fourie would not be available to face the Irish club.

"I think it's going to be quite a while," Dobson told reporters.

"He blew his nose last Saturday night, his eye did not pop out, but it's one of those horrible ones. You can get him back in a few weeks, but it can also be for up to six to eight weeks.

"He's tough, so maybe we'll be looking at four weeks."

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Fourie's absence is a big blow to the Stormers, as Dobson admitted he was missed in Exeter at the weekend.

"I don't want to make excuses, but in those first 20 minutes we were making too many single tackles, we weren't making steals and the ball they were getting was too fast. That spirals and that's certainly where we missed Deon," the coach said.

"There were a couple of steal opportunities, he would have called an extra cleaner in or slowed the ball down.

"We did miss him a hell of a lot. I didn't expect it to be quite like it was. Credit to Exeter for how they played, but we did miss him and Nama Xaba, out and out stealers." 

The Stormers are second on the URC standings on 61 points. They lead Ulster by two log points and will aim to win their final two league matches in the hope of a possible