When South Africa needed a moment of inspiration, Duane Vermeulen stepped up.
The Springbok No.8 picked the ball from the back of the scrum and dished out a reverse offload to Fourie du Preez. The Boks’ scrum-half did the rest.
This week, ahead of South Africa’s World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, Vermeulen gave his thoughts on how the game would play out.
His quote is enough to make you pick up a ball (a bag of cans if so inclined) and find the nearest field.
EXACTLY AS IT SHOULD BE it's knockout rugby but @Springboks' Duane Vermeulen hits the nail on the head 🔩🔨 #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/Opi5xB6me8
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 22, 2015
Vermeulen sums up the Springboks’ hard-hitting mentality.
The 29-year-old battled back from a bad neck injury, incurred in the summer, to make Heyneke Meyer’s 31-man squad. South Africa’s progress means he will not join up with his new club, Toulon, until mid November.
Springboks prop Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira was backed his pack-mate to, once again, deliver for his country.
“Duane is a machine,” he declared. “That’s what we all like to call him, Jean de Villiers even said it before the tournament started.
“We don’t need to look anywhere else for inspiration, we’ve got guys within the team that really inspire us and Duane is definitely one of those figures who inspires all of us by the way he leads on the field.
“So we just have to follow behind and make sure we’re right behind him when he’s putting his body on the line.”
