Call-up to the national team changes Deon Fourie’s plans for his 40th birthday in Australia
In Perth, Australia, South Africa national team rugby player Deon Fourie is due to play in a Test match against Australia on September 27 — two days after his 40th birthday. The call-up to the national team changed his wife’s plans for the birthday celebration, TimesLIVE reports.
Fourie told journalists from the team hotel in Baltimore that his wife had begun planning the celebration several months ago. According to him, his birthday will fall on the national team’s rest day. The rugby player added that his friends from Sydney may come to Perth to celebrate the occasion with him.
Return to the national team
Fourie, who can play as a flanker and hooker, received the call-up after a successful performance for the Stormers in the opening match of the tour against New Zealand’s All Blacks at the beginning of last month. He noted that he did not expect to receive a message from head coach Rassie Erasmus so quickly, as that match was his first after a knee injury.
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In the second Test against New Zealand in Cape Town, 39-year-old Fourie became the oldest player in the history of the South Africa national team, surpassing Victor Matfield. Earlier, he helped the team win the 2023 World Cup and spent most of the final match playing at hooker.
Injuries and future plans
After the World Cup, Fourie believed that his international career was over. However, an invitation to a training camp in Cape Town motivated him to play for the national team again. He later broke his leg and suffered a torn biceps tendon in October last year.
After the latest injury, the rugby player thought it was time to retire, but the words of his son Jamie became unexpected motivation for him. Speaking about a possible 2027 World Cup in Australia, Fourie said that he is taking things match by match and will consider such a prospect if his health allows him to play at the highest level.
