Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

, he previously played for the Vodacom

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls) is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfe ...

and the, and in South African domestic rugby, the , and in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

and in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. He was an instrumental part of South Africa winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup and received the Man of the Match award in the final. Vermeulen plays as a Number eight but he is equally adept at playing both blindside and openside flanker.

Club career

Vermeulen began his career in the Free State, playing for the

Free State Cheetahs The Free State Cheetahs (formerly the Orange Free State), currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by th ...

in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

and the

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

in the Super 14. He eventually followed his former coach

Rassie Erasmus Johan "Rassie" Erasmus (born 5 November 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the South African national team from 2018 to the end of their 2019 World Cup campaign, doubling up on his duties as ...

and joined the much larger and more competitive Western Province rugby union in 2009 after three seasons with the Free State. He put in some strong displays for the Stormers in the 2010 Super 14 season, where the Stormers made it all the way to the final. Injuries plagued Vermeulen's 2011 and early 2012 seasons, however, after playing just nine games of Super Rugby, was selected as part of

Heyneke Meyer Heyneke Meyer (born 6 October 1967) is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching Lei ...

's squad for the away leg of

the Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a s ...

. Vermeulen has twice won the

, in 2007 with the Free State and in 2012 with Western Province. He was named captain of the Stormers for the

2015 Super Rugby season The 2015 Super Rugby season was the 20th season of Super Rugby and the fifth season featuring an expanded 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition was known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New ...

. Whilst out with a neck injury, in June 2015 Vermeulen flew to France to be unveiled as a post-

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

signing for

club

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. After a short spell in Japan with

Kubota Spears Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay (commonly known as the Kubota Spears) is a Japanese rugby union team based in Funabashi, Chiba, Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Chiba participating in the Japan Rugby League One. The team rebranded as Kubota Spears Fu ...

, Vermeulen travelled back to his home nation of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

as a -player, signing in October 2018. On 16 September 2021, it was announced that Vermeulen would join Irish province

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

in the

for the 2021-22 season. Vermeulen made his

debut on 11 December 2021 in the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, against

Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

International career

Before his first full international cap, Vermeulen represented South Africa at the second level of international rugby, appearing for the

Emerging Springboks South Africa 'A', also formerly known as the Junior Springboks or the Emerging Springboks, are the second national rugby union team representing South Africa, below the senior national team, the Springboks. Until 2018, it was also under the Sou ...

. One highlight of his appearances for the Emerging Boks was being in the squad that performed against the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

, holding them to a 13–13 draw, during their tour to South Africa in 2009. Vermeulen looked like being a certain selection for the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, Vermeulen was not called into the Springbok squad that faced

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He was also omitted from the Springboks

2010 Tri Nations Series The 2010 Tri Nations Series was the 15th annual Tri Nations series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. New Zealand clinched the series crown with one match remaining, scoring two tries in the last ...

squad. 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. Vermeulen made his international debut for

on 8 September 2012, where he formed part of the starting lineup going up against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He was selected again to start the following week against New Zealand in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, where South Africa lost by 10 points. On 29 September 2012, South Africa beat

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 In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

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. In 2014, he was one of five nominees for the

IRB Player of the Year The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. The award is presented to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". Th ...

award. Vermeulen played in the

2019 Rugby World Cup Final The 2019 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match played on 2 November 2019 at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan. It marked the culmination of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and was played between England and South Africa, a re ...

against England. He was part of the South African team that won their third World Cup at the Yokohama Stadium in Japan. He was awarded a man of the match award for his performance where he made a number of vital contributions, including 10 carries, making 49 meters (both the most in the match) and 2 turnovers.

Honours

* SARU Rugby Player of the Year 2014 * Super Rugby Player of Year 2014 * Super Rugby and Unlocked Player of Year 202

* SA Rugby Player of the Year for 202

* Currie Cup winner 2020–21 Currie Cup Premier Division, 2020–21

Test Match Record

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

International Tries

Super Rugby Statistics

References

External links

*
Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Stormers profileWP rugby profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vermeulen, Duane 1986 births Living people People from Mbombela South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Stormers players Western Province (rugby union) players Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Pumas (Currie Cup) players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights White South African people RC Toulonnais players Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay players Bulls (rugby union) players Blue Bulls players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union players from Mpumalanga South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Japan South African expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland South African expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland