Vermeulen to lead Boks ahead of injured Kolisi

Veteran Loose forward Duane Vermeulen will lead the Springboks in their opening Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash against Australia at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

This will be the third time that the 37-year-old has led his country.

Vermeulen leads a team featuring a core of Rugby World Cup winners and talented newcomers – who have excelled at vital moments in the past few seasons – and includes a debutant in former Ireland international lock Jean Kleyn, who will earn his first Springbok Test cap.

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Flyhalf Manie Libbok and loose forward Marco van Staden also make their first starts

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber also named 14 players to depart early for New Zealand on Tuesday to acclimatise and maximise the chances of performing well in the first two Tests.

Vermeulen, known as ‘Thor’ by fans takes over the armband from the injured Siya Kolisi.

He will form a powerful loose trio against the Wallabies with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Van Staden.

“Our plan from the outset was to select a squad that we believe has what it takes to beat Australia while at the same time selecting a group of players that could travel to New Zealand to give us the best possible chance to do well in both matches,” said Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.

VERMEULEN READY TO LEAD THE BOKS

“Our last Castle Lager Rugby Championship match is in Johannesburg and then we’ll be able to select a squad from our full complement of players.

“This squad features several Rugby World Cup winners and a crop of younger players who have done the job for us at the highest level, and judging by their enthusiasm and high work ethic at training, we know they are the right players for this big task.”

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Nienaber was pleased to have a leader of Vermeulen’s calibre to steer the team into battle and said: “We had a few options as potential captains and we have two good leaders in Duane and Lukhanyo, who has been named vice-captain for this match. They are both quality leaders and they’ll have a lot of experience around them on the field, which is fantastic for us as coaches.”