Duane to reign as skipper

Duane Vermeulen

Duane Vermeulen

Published Dec 4, 2016

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There is one certainty about the Springboks for next year and that is coach Allister Coetzee will remain at the helm. However, there remains uncertainty about who will be the man tasked with leading the side on the field.

Former Stormers and now Toulon hard-man Duane Vermeulen has emerged as the firm favourite to take over from hooker Adriaan Strauss, who announced his retirement from international rugby during this year’s Rugby Championship, walking away from the job as the worst captain in the history of Springbok rugby.

The 31-year-old Strauss is said to have made his decision to retire from international rugby, even though he will continue to honour his contract with the Bulls at Super Rugby level, before ascending to the toughest job in world rugby, but had accepted the captaincy since the inbound tour by Ireland because of a lack of senior players and leaders in Coetzee’s side.

Vermeulen is now the obvious choice to lead the Boks next year and beyond and will likely be at the helm all the way to the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

While there will be contention to the fact that Vermeulen is based in France and Coetzee, along with his employers at SA Rugby, have made it clear they prefer the Springbok captain to be based in South Africa, the reality is that Vermeulen was always Coetzee’s first choice while the former Stormers coach was trying to jump over the hurdle of the former Stormer’s high-paying job abroad.

Saru are set to make a policy pronouncement next week when the general council meet Coetzee to review the Springboks’ disastrous season in which they lost

eight of their 12 Tests, and the matter of the coach’s assistants is reportedly also going to be on the agenda.

But Coetzee’s main bone of contention is how to keep the overseas-based Springboks relevant to his plans going forward and, more importantly, how Saru will make it possible for Vermeulen to lead the national side even though he is based in Europe?

If Coetzee gets his way and is able to convince his bosses that Vermeulen is the man to lead the Springboks’ revival, then the mother body will need to call in a few favours and conclude an unprecedented deal probably with the beleaguered Stormers and Western Province franchise to accommodate Vermeulen’s return to the country and to meet the demands of his bloated pay cheque that is reportedly around R14,7-million or €1-million per season.

Vermeulen, though, could have thrown a spanner in the works with his recent remarks when he called on the country’s rugby administration and Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula to pull together to steer South African rugby back on track and at the same time all but recused his services from the national team.

Vermeulen, who captained the Stormers during Coetzee’s reign as coach of the team, has only played one Test under Coetzee - the first Test against Ireland in June.

If indeed Vermeulen’s utterances in the media, the reluctance of Toulon to allow him to play for the Springboks, an adverse policy pronouncement on overseas-based players and the inability of Saru to find the money to pay Vermeulen, then Coetzee will have to look at his second option.

Who is that second option?

Speculation is rife that former IRB Young Player of the Year and Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard could be the chosen one, not only to resolve the leadership quandary but the long-standing issue at finding a flyhalf to carry the team through turbulent times and lead them back to the top.

Pollard has spent the entire year on the sidelines due to ankle, knee and shoulder injuries sustained last year while playing in Japan and will only return to action in Super Rugby for the Pretoria-based outfit, the Bulls.

The 22-year-old had been the incumbent Springbok flyhalf during last year’s Rugby World Cup and while many will question his maturity in leading the senior side, he showed enough leadership

qualities when he led the Junior Springboks two years ago and has proven time and again that he is the Springboks’ solution to the woes at flyhalf, where Patrick Lambie and Elton Jantjies have failed to make good the opportunities handed to them.

Inspirational Lions captain and incumbent Springbok eighthman Warren Whiteley is also a dark horse

in the race for the Springbok

captaincy.

Sunday Independent

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