The Springboks had to overcome the loss of hooker Bongi Mbonambi in the third minute of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, however, the 37-year-old replacement, converted back-row forward Deon Fourie, stepped up and were one of the stars of the Springboks retaining their World Cup crown.
Although Fourie initially looked assured, he lost several lineouts in the second half. However, he stuck admirably to the task and came up with a crucial turnover midway through the second period, as well as making 21 tackles.
Springboks head coach Nienaber said: “If you’d asked me which injuries we wouldn’t like early on, it would be Bongi and Faf [de Klerk]. But that’s the decision we made with the squad we selected. There is always risk involved but we mitigated that."
“I don’t know how many lineouts we lost but with Deon Fourie, if there are maybe 16 lineouts in a game, there are 120, 150 rucks in a game, and he makes 20 tackles."
Sometimes the lineouts he loses, he makes up for it in other ways. At whatever age he is, 37, to put in a shift like that is special. I have coached Deon since he was 20 years old and I always knew he had that dog in him.”
Deon Fourie said after the match that Bongi's injury was not part of the plan: "It wasn't part of the plan. He was due to do the game but accidents happen. We thought we'd given him a few minutes to see how he goes but luckily I've played a few games in the World Cup. I came through the 75 minutes. It was tough on the body, with a few cramps and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, we've got the medal around our neck which is all that counts."