Hammer blow as Stormers lose Deon Fourie for Champions Cup quarter-final against Exeter
Cape Town — The Stormers received a massive blow with their inspirational flanker Deon Fourie set to miss the Champions Cup quarter-final against Exeter with an injury.
Fourie, who starred against Harlequins last weekend, has a Medial orbital wall fracture and has not been cleared to play on Saturday (kickoff 18:30).
Another player whose fitness Stormers coach John Dobson worried about was Ruhan Nel, who rolled his ankle against Harlequins.
But he's been cleared to play and will run out in his 50th match for the Stormers at Sandy Park.
The backline for the Exeter clash is unchanged from the one that beat Harlequins, with only two changes to the forwards.
Flanker Junior Pokoma comes in for Fourie, while Marcel Theunissen starts at eight, with Hacjivah Dayimani shifting to the bench to provide an impact when he's called on.
Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that his team will leave it all out on the field at Sandy Park in a bid to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final.
"This is a huge knock-out match, so we have to give it a full tilt."
Flyhalf Manie Libbok, who pulled the strings against Harlequins in the 32-28 win, will have to be on top of his game in the unfriendly and unknown Sandy Park conditions if he wants to steer the team to victory again. But the Stormers forwards will have to come up with a collective effort to keep Exeter at bay if they want their backline to work their magic again. Conditions might prove difficult, but this Stormers side know how to make things work in their favour even when the odds are against them.
Stormers: 15. Damian Willemse, 14. Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13. Ruhan Nel, 12. Dan du Plessis, 11. Seabelo Seabelo, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Herschel Jantjies, 8. Marcel Theunissen, 7. Ben-Jason Dixon, 6. Junior Pokomela, 5. Marvin Orie, 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Joseph Dweba, 1. Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16. JJ Kotze, 17. Ali Vermaak, 18. Neethling Fouche, 19. Gary Porter, 20. Willie Engelbrecht, 21. Hacjivah Dayimani, 22. Paul de Wet, 23. Clayton Blommetjies.
IOL Sport