Stormers confirm Deon Fourie set for extended spell on the sidelines

Fourie was unable to participate in the team's quarter-final loss to Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup, as he sustained a fractured eye socket in their 32-28 victory over Harlequins the week before.

Now that the Stormers have exited the Champions Cup, they are refocusing their attention on the URC. Their upcoming match against Munster will take place at home this Saturday. However, coach John Dobson has confirmed that Fourie will not be able to play against the Irish team.

"I think it's going to be quite a while," Dobson told reporters.

"He blew his nose last Saturday night, his eye did not pop out, but it's one of those horrible ones. You can get him back in a few weeks, but it can also be for up to six to eight weeks.

"He's tough, so maybe we'll be looking at four weeks."

Coach John Dobson acknowledged that the Stormers felt the impact of Deon Fourie's absence during their recent match against Exeter. Fourie's inability to play due to his injury was a significant setback for the team.

"I don't want to make excuses, but in those first 20 minutes we were making too many single tackles, we weren't making steals and the ball they were getting was too fast. That spirals and that's certainly where we missed Deon," the coach said.

"There were a couple of steal opportunities, he would have called an extra cleaner in or slowed the ball down.

"We did miss him a hell of a lot. I didn't expect it to be quite like it was. Credit to Exeter for how they played, but we did miss him and Nama Xaba, out-and-out stealers."

With 61 points, the Stormers currently hold the second position in the URC standings, leading Ulster by two log points. In order to secure a potential home semi-final, they aim to emerge victorious in their remaining two league matches.

Their final league match will be against Italian team Benetton in Cape Town on April 21st. Meanwhile, the upcoming match against Munster is scheduled for 18:15 at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.