Duane Vermeulen
The formidable presence of No 8 Duane Vermeulen could be missing from the Springbok arsenal when they play their final Rugby Championship match of the year against the All Blacks at Ellis Park next Saturday.
Vermeulen left the field late in the second half with a rib injury, and with Schalk Burger having already come onto the field for Teboho Mohoje, that meant that a lock, Victor Matfield, had to take up position on the side of the scrum.
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Burger made a massive impact and along with Bismarck du Plessis his energy helped shift the momentum South Africa’s way in the last quarter, and he could easily slot in as the starting No 8 next Saturday.
However, the value of Vermeulen to the Bok cause cannot be underestimated, and his physical presence will be sorely missed if the injury rules him out of the clash with the All Blacks.
Having said that, the way players who have come in as replacements for the Boks this year have stepped up to the plate, the injury could also prove to be a positive if it further increases the depth like has happened in other areas where there have been injuries – such as scrumhalf and centre, where Francois Hougaard and Jan Serfontein were excellent in Cape Town.
“Duane injured his ribs and it is a concern for us as he is one of the leaders in the team and a player who is in great form at present,” said Meyer after the 28-10 win that was clinched by a flurry of 20 points in the last 10 minutes of play.
Wing Bryan Habana suffered suspected concussion in trying to tackle Wallaby centre Tevita Kuridrani as the Aussies were en route to their only try of the match in the first half and could also be doubtful for next week.
JP Pietersen, who did well as a replacement, should slot in easily as a replacement should it be necessary, but Habana’s contribution to the kick and chase aspect of the Bok game will be missed if he is not in the team for Ellis Park.
The Bok win over the Wallabies sent out the message that the fitness, a big area of concern for Meyer at the end of last year, has improved drastically since 2013.
There still isn’t the uniformity in the franchise and provincial conditioning programmes that Meyer would hope for, but his conditioning coach Basil Carzis appears to have done wonders with the national squad.
The Boks effectively outlasted Australia in the Newlands game, with the hosts wearing down their opponents with their ball in hand approach, though there were stages in the middle 40 minutes when they overdid it, became too frenetic, and consequently allowed the Wallabies to get into the game.
The Australians employed a kicking approach at the start, and perhaps it was how poorly they executed it that prompted them to abandon the approach, with the Wallabies kicking more in the first half and the Boks more in the second.
It would have been interesting to see how the game would have gone had the Wallabies persisted with their approach of the first half, but as it turned out it was the Boks who showed the greater control after half-time.
It was the injection of the energy from the bench, coupled with the ability of the 80 minute players in the Bok team to just keep running and keep applying pressure with their multi-phase approach that won it for Jean de Villiers’s team in the end.
“We played great rugby at times in the first half, but their defence was great. We became a bit frustrated because of that, but in the second half the fitness levels and impact from the bench was massive for us, and I told our conditioning coach Basil Carzis as much afterwards,” said Meyer.
“We want to make our country proud and hopefully we managed that. We battled at times, but I have to say that our captain led from the front and came through for us tonight.”
Captain Jean de Villiers wasn’t always in his best form, but he came through in the end with two tries, and afterwards described the game as a personal highlight in his career.
Although next year’s international schedule has not been announced yet, it was in all likelihood De Villiers’s last match at his home ground, and his brace of tries was a fitting way for him to sound off at Newlands.
“I always dreamed of having my kids on the field with me and that was possible today. To finish the test match with a very late try that secured the bonus point which concluded a massive team effort was equally pleasing. This was possibly a top ten test for me,” said the Bok captain.
Meyer also paid special tribute to the Bok bench, with Bismarck du Plessis, Patrick Lambie and Bakkies Botha having all made strong contributions to the period of the game where the Boks turned a close game into an emphatic win.
“They were all huge in their contributions and I have to thank them. It was good to see that my decision to have experience on the bench worked out for us. The team as a whole also refused to give up. They sprinted back to our line after the third try, wanting to get the fourth one, and we managed that. We scored some great tries when we finally broke them down.”
This guy along with Retallick, A Smith & Savea and the token from up north should get nominations for IRB player of the year.
@ NZINCHINA:
Tough group to pick from, Retallick is just helping the AB’s to another level with his physicality, Aaron Smith is not only the key player in the AB team, he also carried the highlanders on his back to the SR play offs, Savea is always a threat on attack… McCaw also played a few games so he will likely be nominated as well.
@ MacroBok:
I don’t think McCaw will be nominated this year & I don’t think another SAFFA either ( correct me if im wrong) I’d go with Retallick has he is playing with the winning team but Vermeulen has been outstanding as well so it’s a real shame he’s been injured.
@ NZINCHINA:
I’m just joking, didn’t he win the award few years ago by playing less than half the season?
@ MacroBok:
ha probably, although he’s coming into great form now so he might be the dark horse 😀
Yes in 2009 When FDP absolutely dominated world rugby, Ritchee got the IRB award while not even making the team of the year on most websites 😆
MacroBok wrote:
In less than half a season the best players do more than most other players do in a full season, a case in point Schalk yesterday. He did more in 20 minutes than others in the 60 or 80 they were on
…because of Brussow
7 @ nortierd:
Waaaaaay off point.
@ MacroBok:
There is only a handful of players in the world who have such an influence that they can almost be nominated every year.
I agree that FdP should have received the accolade in 2009, he was that good
@ nortierd:
Exactly but thats the point I was trying to make, while even Brussow was better than Ritchee in 2009, he can still manage to swing votes his way magically… hence Ritchee will be a dark horse for nomination.
@ nortierd:
He was very good for the first half of the season, from memory you boys didn’t go so well in the second half
@ MacroBok:
McCaw should have got in 08′.
@ MacroBok:
@ NZINCHINA:
The nominations are a lottery, didn’t some Italian win it as well, next an Argie will probably win it because they “are improving”, or a Pom if they beat us and the Aussies end of the year
@ nortierd:
Yes often some nominees shouldn’t be there but except for 08 & 09 the rightful winner was crowned.
That Vermulen’s injury might signal a looming 0:6 record for HM 😉
He will have to do some explanations IF he drops Oupa now, the Boks were behind as long as Oupa was on the field but then the Quota Lords’ arithmetic capabilities are limited 😆
@ Hondo:
Why would he drop Oupa?
He and Jean were gushing all week about how well he practiced and how deserving he was of his spot.
He will definitely stay in the team now, he didn’t do anything to warrant being dropped, and although Schalk did more in his 20 minutes on the field, it’s still not enough to drop the incumbent.
@ Hondo:
Maybe the Boks were behind because Pollard was still on the field…or was it because Strauss was still on the field…or maybe it was because Jannie was still on the field. No, no, no… it must be because Beast was still on the field.
Who knows.
@ Nama:
Pollard is detrimental, we said it time and again, the problem was in the forwards though, they played better vs the ABs 2 weeks ago away from home
My calcs indicated that Owen will keep the Boks in the game until the Cavalry arrives which he did, so it masked the true situation a lot.
Let’s see if HM still picks ‘The Oupa’ next Saturday, the AB have the prerogative of vetting their test refs, the Peyper incidence will not repeat itself and HM knows that?
@ Hondo:
The fact that Wayne Barnes was running touch at Newlands can’t be incidental, can it?
I expect to see him take the Ellis Park game with Owens maybe switching to touch.
And we know how the AB’s love Barnes
toboho had a very decent start to his test career… cleaned up for the boks a couple of times… when they messed up… and were caught napping by the aussies…
but I don’t expect that to be honestly admitted…
like the old saying goes…
it’s impossible to wake a woman who’s pretending to be asleep…!!
we weren’t behind because of any individual bok on the field… everyone played and did their jobs well… none has anything to be ashamed of… quite the opposite…
but we did surge ahead due to the experienced, calm heads of schalk, bismarck, bakkies, vic the flank and even patrick… puma and the sharks can be proud of lambie’s performance… no sarcasm intended… sure he missed those kicks… but showed great composure and focus to get the drop and the try…
and heyneke’s daringly different game plan… which came off perfectly…!!
well done to all concerned…!
@ nortierd:
20
That was in the past, Barnes will not alienate the ABs again, I am sure of that.
HM put himself into the hole, I can’t see him dropping The Oupa now, combined with the loss of Flouw and Vermeulen the selection might become pathetic?
@ Hondo:
But even if he is “forced” to select Oupa for Saturday’s test and the Boks lose, it won’t be because of Oupa, or will it? I mean, HM is 0/5 against the AB and Oupa was not there in that defeats. 😉
@ Hondo:
@ Nama:
He can continue to select him, I thought he did ok yesterday and didn’t do anything wrong.
IMO the other 3 loosies were more influential and played better, but others will disagree.
I also don’t think he is the best loose forward at his franchise, again my opinion.
HM and Jean obviously differ with me as well, as they have stated in the media this week, so perhaps he is in the top 3 in the country?
Nama is right, it won’t matter who he selects next week, it won’t be be that person’s fault if we lose to the All Blacks, it’s simply that they as a collective are better than us as a collective
@ Hondo: or you might become pathetic Hondo? How can one player make such an impact to an outcome? Remember……..its a team game. 22 players. Besides, Mohoje did not play badly for a rookie. Did quite well actually. Watching the game at the club on saturday, one of my mates said Scalla was past it/a has-been, as he was running on. Then recall what happened. People have opinions but they’re not always right. Are they?
@ nortierd:
@ Nama:
24, 23
A due reminder:
The ABs struggled to beat the Boks by 4 points at their home ground ONLY 3 weeks ago?
And that while the Boks caring the baggage of Pollard and Hougaard (awful both)
So why throwing the towel now? Ellis Park is the Boks’ ‘fortress’ 🙁
Think it over!
Hondkak who takes himself seriously so that nobody else has to.
😆
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