Boks will have to keep Scottish ‘magician’ Finn Russell in check, says Vermeulen

Springbok eighthman Duane Vermeulen admits every team is under pressure to get off to a good start in the World Cup, as the Boks prepare to face Scotland in their tournament opener on Sunday evening.

Pool B is known as the ‘group of death’ as it features three teams in the top five of the world rankings in it, with Ireland top, the Boks second and Scotland fifth, and they will likely be the three sides battling it out to progress from the group.

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Thus the opening match between the Boks and Scotland is vitally important to both sides to get their campaign off to a perfect start and put them ahead of one of their challengers for a place in the quarterfinals.

“It’s the start of your World Cup campaign, so there’s probably a bit of pressure on everyone to produce, but it also depends on how you see pressure or how you handle pressure,” explained Vermeulen at a press conference on Tuesday.

“You want to start well. That’s the same for every single team and hopefully we can achieve that.

“Every team starts on zero. It’s two teams against each other, it’s Springboks versus Scotland on Sunday. You can’t put any favourites on who’s going to be dominant or who’s going to win.”

Finn Russell

Vermuelen highlighted Scottish playmaker Finn Russell as a major threat that the Boks will have to keep in check if they want to come away from the game with a positive result.

“Scotland love to play on quick ball and Finn Russell is the kingpin in that position. He’s a magician with ball in hand. He’s got a massive playbook in his head and is just a fantastic individual player,” said Vermeulen.

“It’s a guy we really have to sit down and have video sessions (on) and have a look at what he does.”

International swansong

Vermeulen was also grateful that he was even at the World Cup for what is expected to be his international swansong, after his struggles during the 2022 international season which had seen a few youngsters coming into contention ahead of him.

“Just before I joined Ulster (ahead of the 2022/23 URC season) I was in a tough spot, the body was acting up. I thought maybe I should have called it (his international retirement) back in 2019. The coaches reassured me to play on,” said Vermeulen.

“Since playing my first game this year for the Boks, I actually really enjoyed it. It’s that last bit of energy that’s in you and you know you want to push and finish on a high, so that’s where I am at the moment.”