Stormers veterans Harris and Fourie still going strong

The Stormers’ old brigade proved their worth over the past weekend with massive performances from their most senior players, Brok Harris and Deon Fourie, in their United Rugby Championship win over the Sharks.

Harris, who turns 37 later this month, was playing his 100th match for the Stormers and put in a huge shift in the front row, while 35-year-old Fourie was brilliant all over the park and was deservedly awarded the Man-of-the-Match award.

Harris and Fourie have had startlingly similar careers at the Stormers, with Harris making his debut in 2007 and playing 93 games, and Fourie making his debut in 2008 and playing 84 games.

Both players then left the union in 2014, Harris for the Dragons in Wales where he featured for them 133 times over seven years, while Fourie left for France where he represented Lyon and Grenoble over seven years and also made 133 appearances in that time (91 for Lyon and 42 for Grenoble).

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They both then made their returns to the Stormers in 2021, with Harris having played seven games since then to reach his century of appearances, while Fourie has featured six times to move to 90 and will look to reach his own milestone with the Stormers in due course.

After putting in a fantastic showing in the match against the Sharks at the weekend, Fourie believed the team was moving in the right direction, and he felt they would keep improving.

“I think the guys wanted to win this game, wanted to prove a point, and coming back to our faithful here we wanted to get a win,” Fourie said.

“Our plan is we want to build, we want to take it step by step, and I think we are heading in the right direction.”

In the post-match press conference after the Sharks game, Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff was full of praise for his scrumming partner Harris and explained what he meant to the team.

“He is an absolute stalwart and legend of Stormers rugby. In world rugby he has over 350 first-class games, so he is a legend in that regard,” said Kitshoff.

“He is a massive family man off the field, and on it he is very honest and hard working, always puts the team first, so I have a lot of respect for him. When I was a youngster I looked up to him a lot and I still do.”

Harris and Fourie will now hope to continue impressing for the Stormers over the rest of their URC campaign and help guide the young players in the squad.