At 17:45 on Sunday September 10, the Springboks will run onto the pitch to face Scotland in their opening 2023 World Cup match at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille, France.

Duane Vermeulen (37) will play his 12th Rugby World Cup match off the bench. The match-day 23 was announced by coach Jacques Nienaber last night, September 6. (In the September 7 print edition of Lowvelder, on page 8, it states that the team would have been announced on Friday September 8. The announcement was brought forward, with the permission of World Rugby, after the time of going to press – Ed)

In the last World Cup game the Springboks played, they defeated England 32-12 to win the 2019 tournament. Vermeulen was man of the match.
Vermeulen was born in Mbombela on July 3, 1986.

The Laerskool and Hoërskool Nelspruit alumnus will earn his 70th Springbok cap on Sunday, almost exactly 11 years after his international debut against Australia in the Rugby Championship on September 8, 2012.

Vermeulen made his World Cup debut against Samoa on September 26, 2015, the Boks’ second pool match of the tournament. He went on to play in the remaining two pool matches, the quarter-final, the semi-finals and the third/fourth play-off game. South Africa went on the win the bronze medal that year.

In 2019, he was in action in two of the Springboks four pool matches, the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
Vermeulen has scored three tries for South Africa, against Argentina in 2013 in the Rugby Championship, and against Wales in 2014 and England in 2018 in the mid-year incoming series.

He has played 345 provincial/club matches between 2005 and 2023. He won the Currie Cup with the Cheetahs in 2007 and 2012, and with the Bulls in 2020/21.

He won the South African Rugby Player of the Year Award in 2014 and 2020.

Vermeulen’s drive at the age of 37 does not surprise his mother, Mbombela resident, Estelien. “Duane is a very focus-driven person, and when he puts his mind to something, there is nothing and nobody that will stop him from achieving it. He wants to retire on a high point and on his own terms. He will give everything to the Springboks to help them win the World Cup. He might be the oldest player in the squad, but he says he will always give the younger players a good run for their money,” she said.

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Estelien has had her fair share of scares during Duane’s career. “It is horrible for me when Duane or any other players get injured on the field. My reaction is, ‘Get up. If you stand up, they can patch you up with stitches and plasters.’ I want to lose my mind when he remains lying on his back on the field. In his 19 years of professional rugby, he has undergone many surgical procedures, including a neck operation. Our family is very close, and we supported one another during the times of my son’s injuries.”

Vermeulen’s tenacious character as a rugby player was moulded when he proudly wore the colours of Laerskool and Hoërskool Nelspruit. “Laerskool and Hoërskool Nelspruit are very close to our hearts, and the family is proud to be part of the Nellie culture. One of his primary school coaches, Jaco Breyl, did so much for Duane, and still does. Hoërskool Nelspruit is in a class of its own. These schools are where Duane received the foundation to become the rugby player he is,” Estelien said.

The Vermeulens are a very close-knit family. “Duane has such a special bond with his sons, Anru (10) and Zian (7). He was just seven years old when his own father passed away. His wife Ezel and their boys have sacrificed so much with Duane playing overseas, away from his family. His boys are such gallant rugby players, and now they tell Dad how to play. The family was at Emirates Airline Park when the Boks played Argentina recently – Duane’s last match on South African soil. He made a ferocious tackle on an opponent, and Anru said, ‘Sjoe, Pappa kan nie so duik en tackle nie! Hy is nie meer vandag se kind nie.’

Estelien will be supporting only one team in the World Cup. “The Springboks will win the Rugby World Cup. ‘Stronger – together’ is the motto. They play for one another. I am such a proud Bok mum,” she concluded.

One of his primary school coaches, the deputy principal of Laerskool Nelspruit, Adé Adendorf, backed Estelien’s opinion on Duane’s attitude. “Duane was always committed. He never gave up. He was a loyal and good teammate,” said Adendorf.

“He was a late developer. But with his work ethic, commitment and never-say-die attitude, I knew he would excel in whatever he set his mind to.”

The staff and pupils of Laerskool Nelspruit wished Vermeulen well for the World Cup. “Duane, what a privilege it is for our school to be mentioned in the same breath as someone of your calibre. Thank you for giving children in the platteland hope. With hard work and determination, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. As staff, we thank you for being a role model. And for the Nellie learners, you have lit the fire of possibility. We honour you and support you. We pray for a successful World Cup, and that your dreams will also be realised. Once a Nellie, always a Nellie.”

Vermeulen, the oldest player in the South African squad, admitted to the media on Tuesday that he had not expected to be playing in his third World Cup. “I thought maybe I should have called it a day in 2019. The coaches reassured me to play on. Since playing my first game this year for the Boks, I’ve actually really enjoyed it.
“Mobility and flexibility get harder as you get older. You watch the young guys in the reviews and think, ‘Jeez, I had better catch up.’ I’ve worked at it, and now my mobility is better than some of the young guys’.
“I’m calling on that last bit of energy that’s in you, and you know you want to push and finish on a high, so that’s where I am at the moment,” he said.

Johan Hattingh, hoof van Hoërskool Nelspruit, skryf namens die leerlinge en personeel van die skool:

Hoërskool Nelspruit wil graag vir Duane baie sterkte toewens met die opkomende Wêreldbekerrugbytoernooi.
Ons is baie trots op Duane en al die prestasies wat hy tot dusver in sy loopbaan behaal het. Ons glo vas dat jy ons land trots sal maak op die rugbyveld, en ons sien uit na elke oomblik van elke wedstryd.
Die leerders en personeel gaan Vrydag 8 September groen en goud dra ter ondersteuning van dié oud-Nellie.
Duane, jy is ‘n ware inspirasie vir ons almal hier by Hoërskool Nelspruit. Mag jy die veld betree met Nellie-guts en -passie.

• Two other Lowveld-born Springboks will also face Scotland.

Faf de Klerk (31) will start at scrum half and earn his 50th cap. He was born in Mbombela on October 19, 1991. From U9 level, he played for Laerskool Bergland’s A team and also captained the school’s first team. He attended Hoërskool Nelspruit in Grade Eight and Nine before he went to Hoërskool Waterkloof. He played 56 matches for the Pumas from 2012 to 2015.

Trevor Nyakane will play 63rd Bok match off the bench. He was born on May 4, 1989, in Bushbuckridge. He attended a top Limpopo rugby school, Ben Vorster.