Deon Fourie explains dark place pains he battled in World Cup final [Video]

Veteran Springboks forward Deon Fourie has revealed he found himself in a “dark place” trying to make the finish of Saturday night’s Rugby World Cup final win over the All Blacks.

The back-rower was named on the bench as the back-up hooker for Bongeni Mbonambi, but his second-half ‘bomb squad’ role was accelerated as he instead became a fifth-minute injury sub and went on to play the remaining 75 minutes.

Mbonambi was hurt in a cleanout by the yellow carded Shannon Frizzell and it meant that the 36-year-old Fourie, the Stormers back-rower who isn’t a specialist hooker, was thrown into the maelstrom of what became an epic decider that the Springboks eventually won 12-11.

The duty that was required took its toll on the veteran’s body. “It wasn’t part of the plan,” he said. “He [Mbonambi] was due to do the game but accidents happen.

“We thought we would given him a few minutes to see …