Duane Vermeulen

Duane Vermeulen

Full name	Daniel Johannes Vermeulen
Date of birth	(1986-07-03) 3 July 1986
Place of birth	Nelspruit, South Africa
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight	117 kg (258 lb; 18 st 6 lb)[1][2]
School	Nelspruit High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Eighth Man Current team Kubota Spears Youth Career 2004–2005 Pumas Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2005–2007 Pumas 26 (20) 2007–2008 Free State Cheetahs 28 (10) 2007–2008 Cheetahs 20 (15) 2009–2015 Western Province 38 (35) 2009–2015 Stormers 89 (25) 2015–2018 Toulon 68 (10) 2018–present Kubota Spears 0 (0) Correct as of 17 June 2018 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2009 Emerging Springboks 1 (0) 2012–2018 South Africa 42 (15) Correct as of 23 June 2018

Vermeulen playing for Western Province in 2010

Daniel Johannes 'Duane' Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986)^[3] is a rugby union player for Kubota Spears in the Top League in Japan, having previously represented the Pumas, Free State Cheetahs and Western Province in South African domestic rugby, the Cheetahs and Stormers in Super Rugby and Toulon in the Top 14. His nickname is 'Thor' after the Nordic God of thunder.

Career

Vermeulen plays as a Number eight but he is equally adept at playing both blindside and openside flanker.

He began his career in the Free State, playing for the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup and the Cheetahs in the Super 14. He eventually followed his former coach Rassie Erasmus and joined the much larger and more competitive Western Province rugby union in 2009 after three seasons with the Free State.

Although putting in some strong displays for the Stormers in the 2010 Super 14 season, where the Stormers made it all the way to the final, and looking like being a certain selection for the Springboks, Vermeulen was not called into the Springbok squad that faced Wales, Italy and France. He was also omitted from the Springboks 2010 Tri Nations Series squad.

Before his first full international cap, he represented South Africa at the second level of international rugby, appearing for the Emerging Springboks. The highlight of his appearances for the Emerging Boks was being a part of the squad that performed well against the British and Irish Lions, holding them to a 13–13 draw during their tour to South Africa in 2009.

After a stand out Currie Cup domestic Rugby Season, Vermeulen was named as part of the 39-man preliminary training squad ahead of the 2010 end of year grand slam tour to the Northern Hemisphere. He was once again overlooked for selection in the final squad. Injuries plagued Vermeulen's 2011 and early 2012 seasons, however, after playing just 9 games of Super Rugby, was selected as part of Heyneke Meyer's squad for the away leg of the Rugby Championship.

Vermeulen has twice won the Currie Cup, in 2007 with Freestate and in 2012 with Western Province.

In 2014, he was one of five nominees for the IRB Player of the Year award.^[4] He was then named captain of the Stormers for the 2015 Super Rugby season. Whilst out with a neck injury, in June 2015 Vermeulen flew to France to be unveiled as a post-2015 Rugby World Cup signing for Top 14 club RC Toulonnais.^[5]

International career

On 8 September 2012, Duane Vermeulen made his international debut for South Africa, where he formed part of the starting lineup going up against Australia. He was selected again to start the following week against New Zealand in Dunedin, where South Africa lost by 10 points. On 29 September 2012, South Africa beat Australia 31 – 8, a victory which marked Vermeulen's first Springbok win.

He was selected for the Springboks' 2012 Northern Hemisphere tour. Vermeulen received a man of the match award for his performance against England at Twickenham during this tour, based on a number of vital turnovers on the ground, 15 hard tackles, and his role of primary ball carrier on the day.

Test Match Record

Against	P	W	D	L	Tri	Pts	%Won
Argentina	4	4	0	0	1	5	100
Australia	6	4	0	2	0	0	66.67
England	3	3	0	0	1	5	100
France	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
Ireland	2	1	0	1	0	0	50
Italy	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
New Zealand	6	1	0	5	0	0	16.67
Scotland	3	3	0	0	0	0	100
Wales	4	3	0	1	1	5	75
Total	30	22	0	8	3	15	73.33

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

International Tries

Try	Opposing team	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result
1	Argentina	Soweto, South Africa	FNB Stadium	2013 Rugby Championship	17 August 2013	Won 73-13
2	Wales	Durban, South Africa	Kings Park	Mid-year rugby test series	14 June 2014	Won 38-16
3	England	Bloemfontein, South Africa	Toyota Stadium	Mid-year rugby test series	16 June 2018	Won 23-12

Super Rugby Statistics

As of 21 June 2015

References

External links

• Stormers profile
• WP rugby profile
• "SA Rugby Player Profile – Duane Vermeulen". South African Rugby Union.
• itsrugby profile
• Duane Vermeulen at ESPNscrum