Springboks give mid-camp update on fitness of Vermeulen and Steyn

The Springboks have given an update on Duane Vermeulen and Frans Steyn, the veteran World Cup-winning duo recalled to their Rugby Championship squad last Saturday. Both were big-name omissions when boss Jacques Nienaber last month named his squad to prepare for the Test series versus Wales. 

There was confusion at the time as to why some players rehabbing injuries were allowed to train with the squad while others – such as Vermeulen and Steyn – were not. With the Springboks now fresh from their 2-1 series win against the Welsh, they have this week assembled an expanded squad of 41 players who are training in Mpumalanga before moving on to Nelspruit on Friday.    

The 36-year-old Vermeulen last played for the Springboks in their defeat last November away to England, a match that was also the last time that Steyn wore the South African colours.

Both are now back working under Nienaber following respective knee and hamstring problems – but the coach wasn’t hyping up their chances of featuring next week against the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship opener.   

“They must handle this week’s load,” insisted the coach when asked about the pair’s selection odds to take on New Zealand. “We are only on Wednesday and we have still got Friday to come and then next week – and then we must make a decision as coaches. 

“Duane hasn’t had a rugby session with us as yet, so it would be tough to get him in the mix. He is still busy with his return to play, his rehab protocol. Frans is in training sessions, he is training with us, he had done last week with the Cheetahs – they started their pre-season already so he has got one week under the belt and now this half-week he has done with us rugby-wise, but Duane hasn’t been part of the rugby session yet. 

“That is why I say the key thing for us is to get them in to have a look where they are at, where their conditioning is at, where their rugby skills are at, to put them in our environment and see from a rugby on-field point of view how do they cope.

“Then we will make an informed decision on selection probably next week when we go into team selection and selection going forward into the Rugby Championship. We will make that at the back end of next week. 

“Frans had a hamstring and Duane a clean-out on his knee,” continued Nienaber, drilling down into the specifics. “If you have a squad that is more of a performing older group you have got to manage their load. If players are 22, 23 old they can handle a lot of load and they just recover a little bit quicker. 

“When you are a little bit older then you do have to look after the bodies. For us, having them in the squad, we got them in to have a look at them. They have been busy with rehab and it was let’s have a good look at them under our medical staff and see where they are at and then make a decision after this incoming leg of the Rugby Championship.”