Former Bok eighthman Duane Vermeulen joked that he wants to come out of retirement to face Henry Pollock of England later this year.
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Duane Vermeulen is starting to settle nicely into his role with the Springboks following his retirement; however, he is ready to make a comeback – but for only 10 minutes – when the Boks face England in July in the Nations Championship.
That is so that he can face the new cult hero of English rugby, Henry Pollock, to truly welcome him to South Africa and rugby against the world champions with a few bone-crunching tackles and a friendly hello while his head is in the rucks.
Vermeulen said on Monday that the blonde-haired loose forward has caught the eye with the way he is playing and likened him to when Bok legend Schalk Burger first came onto the scene with his blonde locks all over the show.
“You see the hair and then only do you see the tackle,” he joked.
“He (Pollock) has his following and the people that like him, but there are a helluva lot of people that obviously dislike him too. But he plays, and he has an impact, and he brings excitement to the game.
“It will be interesting to see the first match and how the boys hit the ground running. I would love to have a comeback then, but only if it’s for 10 minutes. However, he is fantastic and brings something special to the England team, and he has massive energy.
“That is the nice thing about the youngsters. They bring in a lot of energy and push the more experienced players to stay on top of their game and push themselves. He is a character on and off the field, but when and if he plays, he does his part. I can’t say anything bad about him. He is a good player.”
Vermeulen says his transition from on the field to off the field has settled down, although he nearly made a comeback against Wales during the November Tests last year. He added that the first year in transition from player to coach was the toughest, but he has been in the role for a while and has found his footing.
He still finds it a bit tough to tell someone like Eben Etzebeth to do this or that.
“A couple of years have gone by, and you start to feel comfortable with them when discussing things like breakdown work or defence. They understand and buy into what you see and how you look at the game.
“It is much easier now than before, and I am truly enjoying it. Hopefully, I can stay on for a couple more years. But it has been fun.”
* Leighton Koopman is Independent Media senior rugby writer and host of The Last World on Rugby, our weekly rugby podcast on our Youtube channel The Clutch