Duane Vermeulen is unlikely to be part of the Springbok team that will face the All Blacks in his old home base of Nelspruit in the opening Castle Lager Rugby Championship match of 2022 next week.
Although Vermeulen and fellow 2019 World Cup winner Frans Steyn have been added to the squad for the training camp currently taking place in Hazyview, about 60km from Nelspruit, coach Jacques Nienaber says the big No 8 is yet to take part in an on-field training session.
“Frans and Duane have been added to the group mainly so we could take a look at them and assess where they are in their comeback from injury,” said Nienaber in an online press conference from the Lowveld on Wednesday.
“When you have a squad that is more of a performing older group, you obviously have to put a lot of emphasis on managing their load. When you are young you can be pushed but when you are older you have to look after your bodies more. That happens to all of us (in the ageing process).
“Frans missed the series against Wales because of a hamstring injury while Duane had his knee cleaned out in a procedure. While Frans has been back in training with the Cheetahs, who started their preseason last week, for a week before joining us, Duane has yet to go onto the field to train.
“So while Frans may be a week down the road, I think the main thing with Duane is to manage his load as he makes his return. He hasn’t been on the field yet, but it's Wednesday and we will have another training session on Friday. Obviously, we have next week too. However, as Duane has had no rugby session as yet, it is going to be tough to get him into the mix for the game next week.
“At the moment, Duane is just busy with his return to play protocols and we won’t rush that,” added the Bok coach.
Nienaber said that a decision on both players’ readiness to return to a match situation would be made next week.
“Frans is different to Duane as he is training now and has that extra week under the belt, but the idea was to put both players back into the team environment and then make an informed decision. We will make a decision late next week on their readiness not only for the games against the All Blacks but their readiness to travel with us to Australia and Argentina.”
The Boks are due to play two Rugby Championship matches in Australia after their home doubleheader against the All Blacks in Nelspruit and Johannesburg, and will fly from Australia to Argentina before their penultimate Championship game. The final game the Boks will play in the competition will be the one against the Pumas in Durban on 24 September.
With Damian Willemse going so well as the player who can cover several positions in the backline and having dovetailed so well with Willie le Roux during the Welsh series, there doesn’t appear any pressing need to rush Steyn back onto the field.
Vermeulen, as a key member of the leadership group, is perhaps more important to the Bok cause but he also has good players covering for him in the form of Jasper Wiese, Evan Roos and Elright Louw who could do with the extra game time and experience that will be accrued during the 2019 Rugby World Cup man of the match’s absence.