By Toby Shapshak
The evergreen Duane Vermeulen is a pivotal player for the Springboks’ quest to win back-to-back World Cups. At 37, he is often mentioned as being, well, old.
But there appears to be no evidence that his age is holding back his typically rampaging game. Thor lives up to his nickname – delivering a hammer blow to opponents who to try to tackle him.
Like many others in the current Springbok setup, Vermeulen has a long association with director of rugby Rassie Erasmus. After playing for the Cheetahs in Super 14 and three years in Bloemfontein, he followed coach Erasmus to Western Province and the Stormers in 2009. He therefore won the Currie Cup with two different provinces, the Free State in 2007 and Province in 2012.
That September he made his Springbok debut, fittingly as starting number eight, against Australia, under Heyneke Meyer. He has since become a fixture in the back row.
His first man of the match award was against England on the 2012 Northern Hemisphere tour, played at Twickenham, where he was still on display 13 years later in crushing the All Blacks 35-7 last month.
He was both the SARU Rugby Player of the Year and Super Rugby Player of the Year in 2014 and lost out to Brodie Retallick for IRB Player of the Year, where he was one of five finalists.
He captained the Stormers in the 2015 Super Rugby competition and signed for French Top 14 club Toulon after that year’s disappointing World Cup. The talismanic eighth man then played in Japan, came back to the Bulls for three years, and then moved to Irish powerhouse Ulster for two years.
All the while he has been the hammer at the back of an already impressive pack. Fittingly Vermeulen won the man-of-the-match award in the 2019 World Cup final against England, which the Springboks won triumphantly 32-12.
For the last two years, while he was unavailable and then injured, the up-and-coming Jasper Wiese has brought his own bullocking runs to the position.
But there is no argument that Vermeulen – who was both Super Rugby Player of the Year and SA Rugby Player of the Year in 2020, when he also won the Currie Cup with the Bulls – is the first choice number eight.
Now back to his marauding best, Thor is unparalleled in his position, no mean feat at 37.
Pictured above: Duane Vermeulen
Image source: Twitter
