Duane Vermeulen is back on the training park tormenting teammates as he used to, says Springboks captain Siya Kolisi.
After a 12-year Test career, including back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles, the bruising No.8 hung up his boots in 2023, shifting swiftly into the coaching space.
Now part of South Africa’s newly-established Mobi-Unit, a rugby think tank created to benefit a wide range of rugby programs in the Rainbow Nation, Vermuelen is involved with the Springboks in a coaching capacity.
The training boots have been dusted off ahead of the Boks’ final Test of the year, though, due to the lack of available troops at Rassie Erasmus’s disposal.
The coming Test match with Wales falls outside of the November Test window, meaning a dozen Springboks have been called back into their respective club teams for the resumption of the club season this weekend.
That’s left Vermuelen as the 25th man on the Springboks roster, just two injuries away from a dramatic return to the playing fold.
“It’s good to have him as a coach, and even at 39 years old, it’s nice to train against him, because he can still set a maul, he hits the rucks hard, and he challenges us at the breakdowns,” Kolisi said on the eve of the Wales Test.
“And now he has an opportunity to play this weekend if something were to happen to someone. So, it’s a reminder that he can still do it. He’s played for us, and done it all, and it’s great to learn from him.”
Kolisi’s men remain at the top of the rugby world in 2025, sitting No.1 in the world rankings after an unbeaten Quilter Nations Series.
Wales last occupied that top spot before 2019’s Rugby World Cup, now sitting 12th after falling as low as 14th in July of this year.
While Wales’ current form is far from the glories of yesteryear, Kolisi sayd the Boks won’t be taking them lightly.
“We prepare for each game the same, and we treat every opposition team the same, and honestly, we don’t have a good record against Wales in Cardiff as this group,” said Kolisi.
“We know how tough the Welsh team is, and we’ve been in their position before, when in 2015 all the guys retired at the same time, and then we went through the 2016 and 2017 seasons before coach Rassie (Erasmus), coach Stick, and many of the other coaches came into the mix, which is when we started changing things.
“Every team goes through such seasons. What’s been so good with our team is that we’ve been chopping and changing, but while wanting to win. We know the Welsh will come for us this weekend, so we are looking forward to the game, and we’ll give it our all.
“We all saw how well they played last weekend, and I think only later in the game, New Zealand pulled away. So, we’re going to have to start with intensity and play within our standards.”
