Stormers energizer bunny charged up
Utility forward Deon Fourie may want to play down his role, but he has truly become the Stormers' very own 'energizer bunny'.
Like the world famous marketing icon and mascot Fourie continues to operate indefinitely - regardless of the position he is selected in.
The explosive hooker - known for his strength and speed around the park - was trialled at No.8 in the win over the Rebels last week - a triumph that saw the Stormers move to the top of the global standings.
In a man-of-the-match performance the 25-year-old Fourie turned ball over like a true openside flank - another position he has featured in for his team in recent times.
It was not surprising that Stormers coach Allister Coetzee sang Fourie's praises.
"I have always said Deon has a good skills set ... whether he is [playing at] No.6 or No.8 he is always first out," Coetzee told this website.
"He showed that he can adapt to both those roles - No.6 [openside flank] and No.8.
"I think he surprised a lot of people by [also] winning a line-out ball comfortably," the Stormers mentor quipped.
The reason for trialing the hooker at No.8 last Saturday was the rash of injuries among the Stormers' loose forward stocks - with players like Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen, Nizaam Carr and Nick Koster all ruled out.
Canadian import Jebb Sinclair is also unavailable for the play-offs because he joined the team after the April cut-off date for registration that would have qualified him for the play-offs.
"We had to look at other options," Coetzee said, adding: "Apart from using Siya Kolisi as a back-up No.8 ... for the simple reason that if Siya gets injured we need to have another player we can fall back onto.
"Fortunately for us Siya is fine and Deon has done superbly [at No.8]."
Fourie himself was coy about his multiple roles in the team.
"After the first two phases everyone is the same, there is no number on your back," he told this website.
"However, it was lekker [enjoyable] to be a bit more free," he said of his roaming role, before adding that he is certainly not considering a permanent shift to No.8.
Coetzee was also full of praise for Kolisi, probably the find of the season, who has been a monster on defence and probably one of the most unlucky players not to feature for South Africa against England in June.
"He is unbelievable," Coetzee said of the Stormers flank, adding: "What we need to understand is that the way things are planned makes our structure and our system solid.
"However, as an individual he does put in some big hits.
"We get excited when he hits a couple of guys back and then everybody chips in to make sure we stop [the opposition's] momentum."
Converted from lock to flank this season Rynhardt Elstadt is complementing the other two loose forwards with his physical approach.
"I am really happy with the balance," Coetzee said of the loose forward combination that featured in the win over the Rebels.
"We have a big ball-carrying, cleaning loose forward like Rynhardt Elstadt. Then you have a great defensive guy in Siya Kolisi, who is also a big ball carrier and then you have a forager like Deon Fourie who is also a ball carrier, which gives us that balance."
Coetzee said that their approach is not to play a specialist 'fetcher', but rather use numbers to turn the ball over.
"What we look to do with our system is make double hits and not chase the ball on the ground," the Stormers mentor said, adding: "Referees will penalise you and are very strict on the ground.
"If you have a guy that just goes for every ruck and chases ruck, you might end up conceding a number of penalties.
"However, with Deon that makes great decisions, I am happy that we have that in our systems.
"We rely on double hits to make turnovers and here you have an extra guy who makes good decisions and turn the ball over for you as well."
By Jan de Koning