Cape Town - Flank Deon Fourie will play his 100th game for the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship Grand Final against the Bulls at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The inaugural URC final kicks off at 7.30pm, with at least 31 000 spectators expected to be in attendance.
Fourie made his Stormers debut back in 2008 and earned 84 caps before he left to play in France, where he spent seven years before returning last year. Foiurie earned 91 caps for Lyon between 2014 and 2019, and made 42 appearances for Grenoble between 2019 and 2021.
The 35-year-old has been a stand-out performer for the Cape side and holds the record for the most turnovers won during the competition. Fourie could become the oldest Springbok to make his international debut when they take on Wales in July, having earned a call-up for the upcoming international season.
There are two changes to the side that defeated Ulster in the semi-finals last weekend.
One of those is in the backline, with Sergeal Petersen coming in for the injured Leolin Zas, while loose forward Junior Pokomela is included on the replacements bench.
Flank @Deonf will bring up his DHL Stormers 💯 at DHL Stadium on Saturday, with @SergeaLSP15 and @Junior_Pokomela coming in for the @Vodacom #URC Grand Final.
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) June 17, 2022
📢 Full team announcement https://t.co/zKjGo2HJoa#iamastormer #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/HL46Z4wLCq
Stormers head coach John Dobson said that he could not be happier for Fourie.
“Deon embodies a lot of what we pride ourselves in as a team. Playing for the Stormers means a lot to Deon and it means a lot to the rest of us that he reaches this milestone on such a big occasion. He deserves all the accolades coming his way,” he said.
Dobson added that he is pleased to have Petersen and Pokomela in the mix after their performances for Western Province in the Currie Cup.
“Sergeal and Junior have shown their worth for us this season and both add something different to our squad, so we are looking forward to seeing what they can do on Saturday,” he said.
The Stormers have won their last 10 matches on the bounce, while they’ve lost just one at home - their defeat to the Lions at Cape Town Stadium in December last year.
Now, as they go into the big one, Dobson said they will be holding nothing back against their old foes.
“We are up against our old rivals in a home final, so you can be sure we will be ready to give it everything we have and hopefully make our supporters proud,” he said.
Stormers team: 15 Warrick Gelant 14 Sergeal Petersen 13 Ruhan Nel 12 Damian Willemse 11 Seabelo Senatla 10 Manie Libbok 9 Herschel Jantjies 8 Evan Roos 7 Hacjivah Dayimani 6 Deon Fourie 5 Marvin Orie 4 Salmaan Moerat 3 Frans Malherbe 2 JJ Kotze 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Bench: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter 17 Brok Harris 18 Neethling Fouche 19 Ernst van Rhyn 20 Junior Pokomela 21 Nama Xaba 22 Godlen Masimla 23 Sacha Mngomezulu.
@WynonaLouw