Jacques Vermeulen made the South African Under-20 side a year out of school in 2014, but injuries at the wrong times have hampered his progress into senior rugby.
But the Paarl Gym product will finally make his Currie Cup starting debut for Western Province in Friday’s opener against the Blue Bulls at Loftus (5.10pm kickoff).
A strapping figure at 1.97m and around 105kg, Vermeulen is the quintessential blindside flank in the mould of Juan Smith – a dynamic ball-carrier and excellent lineout jumper. He perhaps has more speed than Smith, and a better appreciation for space and offloading in the tackle.
Many people won’t know much about Vermeulen, but he has an opportunity to make a name for himself on the big stage against a strong Bulls loose trio after being included at No 8 for Province on Thursday, in the absence of the injured Nizaam Carr (shoulder).
The 21-year-old is one of six Under-21 players in the match-22 announced by WP coach John Dobson on Thursday for the trip to Pretoria, along with wings Leolin Zas and Khanyo Ngcukana, outside centre Daniel du Plessis, lock JD Schickerling and reserve flyhalf Brandon Thomson.
“Jacques Vermeulen went really well in pre-season against SWD, got injured and came back as well. He is a big ball-carrier, was outstanding for the Stormers (in pre-season) and got injured,” Dobson said.
“He is a big ball-carrying loose-forward as a seven and can play eight as well, and our problem is that many of our loosies are similar – great attackers and linkers, and we don’t have a dog and a Willem Alberts. So hopefully Jacques will develop into a strong ball-carrier. And we have Rynhardt Elstadt and Eital Bredenkamp, as well as Jurie van Vuuren.”
Elstadt and Van Vuuren will complete the WP loose trio at Loftus, while lock Chris van Zyl will be the captain on Friday.
Stormers wing Kobus van Wyk has been rested following a hectic Super Rugby season, while Scott van Breda has surprisingly won the nod ahead of Jaco Taute at fullback. Ngcukana, though, is an exciting talent at No 14 and could add some much-needed spark to the WP backline with his pace and stepping abilities.
Veteran scrumhalf Jano Vermaak is now finally the No 1 after the departure of Nic Groom and Louis Schreuder overseas, and Dobson is expecting big things from the three-cap Springbok.
“Jano Vermaak is a world-class scrumhalf. We haven’t seen much of him due to injury, but as a leader and quality human being on and off. There are scrumhalves who have played in 80 or 90 Tests who are not in his league – he is a special scrumhalf, but just needs to stay on the field,” the coach said.
“Then Godlen Masimla is the next generation and a youngster in Justin Philips. You are never sure if Godlen is concussed or not! But he played in the last four or five games of the qualifiers and is getting better with every game. There is something special about him, but he needs to play.”
@ashfakmohamed