The following from News24:-
"A call from Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer led to centre Jaque Fourie reconsidering his international future. The 32-year-old, who plays his club rugby for the Kobelco Steelers in Japan, retired from international rugby last year.
But a call from Meyer earlier this year led to a change of heart and Fourie is now eyeing the Rugby World Cup in England and Wales later this year.
At present, he is not fit enough for the rigours of international rugby and has been put on a rigid training programme to regain top fitness levels.
“Me and my family were set to fly back to Japan this week,” Fourie told Netwerk24 last week. “We’ve had a wonderful holiday of about four months here - and I was ready to start training for the new Japanese season. Then Heyneke phoned me and asked if we could chat.
“He told me he had the luxury of a big group of experienced players from which he could pick and that he would like to consider me. He gave me the assurance that they would discuss it with my club, the Kobelco Steelers, because I actually promised my club that I had retired from international rugby.
Nevertheless, the drawcard of a fourth World Cup is a strong one. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would be possible.”
Fourie played 72 Tests for the Springboks after making his debut against Uruguay at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
His last Test was against France in Paris in November 2013.
Is Meyer a bloody fool - or not? First of all during the 2013 tests Fourie at the age of 31 was without doubt not a house on fire. His pace was gone - he made zero impact in attacking play and players ran around him at speed - while he made tackles of those players he managed to get to. That was by far not a real motivation for future selection.
Fourie did not play rugby for 4 months and when he arrived at the Springbok training camp he was in shocking physical condition. Now he must get back into some form and the question is - is he at the age of 33 ever going into even the questionable condition he was at the age of 31 in 2013?
Now for the real question - did Meyer know anything about Fourie's performances over the past year and what could be expected from him on higher level. This is the type of thing that makes Meyer looks like a real fool in rugby terms - falling back on reputation only in making tea m and squad selection.
