Duane Vermeulen
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Johannes Vermeulen | ||
| Born | 3 July 1986 Nelspruit, South Africa | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 116 kg (18 st 4 lb) | ||
| School(s) attended | Nelspruit High School | ||
| Club information | |||
| Playing position | Loose Forward | ||
| Current club | Western Province / Stormers | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–05 | Pumas | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Pts)† |
| 2005–07 | Pumas | 26 | (20) |
| 2007–08 | Free State Cheetahs | 28 | (10) |
| 2007–08 | Cheetahs | 20 | (15) |
| 2009– | Western Province | 38 | (35) |
| 2009– | Stormers | 62 | (10) |
| Representative team(s)‡ | |||
| 2009 | Emerging Springboks | 1 | (0) |
| 2012– | South Africa | 16 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and points correct as of 26 October 2013. † Appearances (Points). | |||
Duane Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986)[1] is a South African rugby union player, who represents Western Province provincially and the Vodacom Stormers in the Super Rugby.
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 Vodacom 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.
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.
Notes
- ↑ Duane Vermeulen player profile ESPN Scrum.com