1
'Pretty impressive wasn't he' - Bok superstar's big shift raises URC smiles
Ulster coach Dan McFarland was smiling broadly on Saturday night, but not only because his side had comprehensively beaten Zebre in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter.
ADVERTISEMENT
McFarland was more happy about the form of his recent signing – Springbok No.8 Duane Vermeulen a couple of hours before in the Rugby Championship win over the All Blacks.
Vermeulen put in a classic performance, turning over the ball at a crucial time in the dying moments of the game as the Springboks regained their world number one ranking with a win over their arch-rivals.
“What about that in arguably the biggest match you can get in the international calendar – South Africa against New Zealand,” McFarland said afterwards.
“He was pretty impressive wasn’t he.”
Vermeulen will now head to Ulster to hook up with his new team before possibly rejoining the Springboks for their November tests against Wales, Scotland and England.
Still, while he may not play straight away for Ulster, McFarland had seen enough to be salivating at the prospect of him running out in Belfast for the team.
“He makes the two biggest plays in the last five minutes of the game that turn it in the Springboks’ favour.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Vermeulen’s signing has been seen as a massive coup for the side, who lost Marcell Coetzee last season to the Bulls and have been searching for a marquee player ever since. While Vermeulen missed the games against the British and Irish Lions, Saturday’s form showed he is almost back to his best.
Ulster thrashed Zebre 36-3 as coach McFarland sounded pretty chuffed with the result.
“What do you want me to say? Can we get better? Of course we can. Did I think some of those great fellows put in a great shift against a team that scored 26 points last week in the space of 40 minutes and we held them to no tries? I’m really pleased with that.
“Second game of the year. Was there some disjointed stuff? If you want that answer, yes.”
Another Springbok who made a big impression on Saturday was lock RG Snyman who scored the try that turned the tide for Munster against the DHL Stormers in Limerick.
ADVERTISEMENT
And his South African coach Johann van Graan was singing his praises afterwards.
“That was a big moment for him and for us,” said Van Graan. “Last week was all about getting back on the pitch after such an extended period (out injured) and this game was about contributing even more.
The Springboks are World No.1 again after just one week away from the top spot #spingboks #RugbyChampionship #allblacks pic.twitter.com/m2lAbz1XI2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 4, 2021
“That try was even one of the reasons why we have him at Munster, to do those type of things. He has a lot more to come but like I said before, he has to keep building his minutes.
“That was a special moment for him tonight to say he has scored his first try for Munster.”
Snyman may well be on the Springboks radar after missing most of the international season and could link up again with the national side ahead of their three test tour of Wales, Scotland and England next month.
Comments on RugbyPass
More useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
22 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
1 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
22 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to commentsDissapointed that after 7 years Crusaders could not have found a coach that believed their system and improved on it. What was he expecting?
6 Go to comments