Deon Fourie in tears after serious injury overshadows Stormers victory in Wales

The Stormers had an emotional changeroom after their rout of the Scarlets on Friday evening, with news that veteran flanker Deon Fourie sustained a serious bicep injury after only recently returning from a previous injury.

Despite being on a high after their 34-0 bonus-point demolition of their hosts in Llanelli, Fourie became the second senior player to suffer a serious injury at the start of the new United Rugby Championship (URC) season.

Tighthead prop Neethling Fouché broke his arm against the Ospreys last weekend and is recovering in South Africa, while Fourie is now set to leave the team behind. Tighthead Sazi Sandi also picked up an injury and will undergo scans. If he is ruled out, the Cape side will be left with three tightheads unavailable, with Bok Frans Malherbe still on the sidelines.

The Stormers will face Italian sides Zebre in Parma and Benetton in Treviso in their next two matches.

Director of rugby John Dobson confirmed that Fourie’s injury will require surgery. He barely took the field on Friday as a replacement before he was forced off again. The bright side of the game was that they completely dominated the Scarlets and maintained their unbeaten start to the season. It will bring plenty of momentum for their campaign in Italy.

“As much as the victory was pleasing, it was an emotional changeroom. Deon was in tears,” Dobson said after the victory.

“It shows how tight this team is because the players are upset about Deon. Sazi will get scanned, and we will see where he stands. If he is out, we’ll have three really good tightheads injured. I don’t think any other team can cater for that, but luckily, we have a great scrum culture thanks to Brok (Harris) and Shimmy (Hanyane Shimange).

"We have players who can step in to keep that dominance going.”

It was the scrums and lineouts that gave the Stormers their platform against the Welsh club. Had they not wasted several opportunities in the first half, the final result could’ve been even more emphatic.

Despite not converting all their chances, they still did a brilliant job to nullify their opponents, who at times tried to drag the visitors down to their level with negative play.

“We stuck largely to the plan around our set piece and how we carried the ball,” Dobson added.

“We won the territory and kicking game, and we should’ve pulled away earlier in the game thanks to that dominance. That’s probably been the story of the last three games.”