SA Rugby
The double Rugby World Cup-winning no 8, Duane Vermeulen has announced his retirement.
Thirty-seven-year-old Vermeulen's Springbok career spanned 76 tests over 11 seasons.
Vermeulen, who hails from Mbombela in Mpumalanga made his Test debut against Australia in Perth in 2012.
He also won the SA Rugby Player of the Year Award twice (2014 and ’20), along with an elite club of only five players who have won the award more than once since the advent of professionalism: Schalk Burger (2004, ’11), Bryan Habana (2005, ’07, ’12), Fourie du Preez (2006, ’09), Jean de Villiers (2008, ’13) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (2016, ’18, ’19).
At provincial level, Vermeulen and the late Springbok loose forward Theuns Stofberg are the only players who have won the Currie Cup with three different unions, when he lifted the coveted gold trophy with the Toyota Cheetahs (2007), DHL Western Province (2012) and Vodacom Bulls (2020).
President of the South African Rugby Union, Mark Alexander said Duane will forever be regarded as one of the real hard men of South African rugby, who consistently delivered his best.
