Duane Vermeulen’s coaching role EXPLAINED
We unpack how Duane Vermeulen’s coaching role came about as well as what the retired Springbok’s new role entails.
The veteran Duane Vermeulen may have hung up his playing boots, but his contribution to SA Rugby rugby is not over yet. Duane Vermeulen’s coaching role was announced by SA Rugby along with others who’ll be joining Rassie Erasmus at the Springboks.
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WHO IS DUANE VERMEULEN?
Daniel Johannes Vermeulen — better known at Duane Vermeulen — is a double Rugby World Cup winner and one of the greatest Springboks of all time.
At 37, his illustrious career drew to a close at the 2023 World Cup in France and it included successful spells at local unions the Pumas, Cheetahs, Western Province & the Stormers and the Bulls.
He also turned out for overseas clubs Toulon in France, Kubota Spears in Japan and Ulster in Ireland.
His honours roll consists of two World Cup titles, one Rugby Championship trophy, Currie Cup title and a Super Rugby Unlocked title. Furthermore, he has also been crowned SA Rugby Player of the Year twice, Super Rugby Player of the Year twice and a World Rugby Player of the Year nominee once.
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SA RUGBY HIJACKED DUANE VERMEULEN’S COACHING ROLE AT THE STORMERS!
Following confirmation of his retirement last November, Vermeulen was primed to join the Stormers’ coaching ranks under the tutelage of head coach John Dobson. But then SA Rugby Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus had other ideas.
Having worked with Vermeulen for the longest time during the latter’s playing days, Erasmus identified Vermeulen as an asset that could be useful at national level and thus offered him a coaching role within SA Rugby.
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WHAT DOES DUANE VERMEULEN’S COACHING ROLE ENTAIL?
Earlier this week, it was announced that Vermeulen has been appointed to roving coaching role within SA Rugby, making him just the third member of a mobi-coaching unit, joining forces with existing coaches, Franzel September and Bafana Nhleko.
This unique and versatile position within the Mobi-Unit will see Vermeulen working across various national teams, from junior Springboks to the women’s side, gaining valuable experience while potentially paving the way for future leadership roles within the Springboks setup.
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WHAT IS THE MOBI-UNIT?
The Mobi-Unit is a high performance ‘think-tank’ of top rugby coaches established by the SA Rugby (SARU) in 2012 to assist elite teams at all age levels of the game.
The HP Mobi-Unit is the brainchild of Rassie Erasmus, who started the innovative initiative during his tenure as SA Rugby’s General Manager of High Performance in 12 years ago.
A ground-breaking initiative for South African rugby at the time, the Mobi-Unit sees a contracted team of specialist coaches in the ‘HP Mobi-Unit’ visit franchises, SA Rugby national teams (men’s, women’s, junior and age-grade level across both formats of the game) and even schools teams to share cutting-edge rugby knowledge.
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