WHAT BETTER WAY to mark a convincing win over your closest geographical rivals than by welcoming a World Cup-winning Springbok into the fold two days later?
That is the situation for Ulster as Duane Vermeulen, fresh off the disappointment of seeing the Barbarians’ game against Samoa cancelled on Saturday, touched down in Belfast on Monday morning and will link up with his new team-mates for the first time ahead of their game against the Ospreys on Saturday.
It’s quite the way to follow up that win over Leinster, where Dan McFarland’s side turned in a defensive masterclass to walk out of the RDS with only their second win in Dublin since 2013, with the marquee number eight only strengthening their hand heading into a block of nine massive games in Europe and the United Rugby Championship.
He won’t play all of them, of course, and the odds on him making his debut in Swansea on Saturday are probably low after a marathon international window with South Africa. But the prospect of playing the likes of Clermont and Northampton in the Heineken Champions Cup with Vermeulen anchoring the scrum is a salivating one indeed.
“It was announced a while ago, but it’s like Christmas; when it’s actually here it’s exciting for me as forwards coach!” grins Ulster’s forwards coach Roddy Grant of his chance to work with the back-rower.
While the former Stormers, Toulon and Bulls ace has been signed primarily for his on-field contributions, there is also an awareness that he could be a galvanising influence within the dressing room in Belfast too.
Vermeulen’s reputation precedes him as one who is willing to impart wisdom, and for the likes of the still-developing David McCann and even for Ireland flanker Nick Timoney, his mentorship could be game-changing in Ulster’s back row.
“From what I hear from guys who have coached him, they all say great bloke, brilliant leader, obviously has a huge presence having captained South Africa. Guys will pick up on that, how he carries himself, how he talks, how he plays,” adds Grant.
“You get world-class players, but it’s the players who are world-class and have a reputation of being great influences to a squad of being a great bloke, a great leader, a good presence. That’s what makes Duane rare, that he has all of those attributes.
“The stuff we do well or has gone well, he’s really good at. He’ll add to that, which is exciting for me. I’ve said this to a number of people but, for me, he is the best mauler in the world. To have him come into our maul is really exciting.
“He’s a genuinely world-class rugby player. He was player of the World Cup final two years ago. It’s a pleasure to coach that and for guys to play with. I can’t say how excited I am for the young guys, it’s going to be brilliant.”
Whether or not Vermeulen plays against the Ospreys, the rest of the squad have to undertake a similar challenge to what Ireland had in the immediate aftermath of the win over the All Blacks in working how to ensure there is no hangover from a big result.
Andy Farrell’s men passed the test with flying colours by professionally dispatching Argentina with ease and Ulster will be hoping they will be able to do likewise when they look to back up that victory over Leinster.
This early in the week it’s hard to gauge the mindset. Monday was the weekly video review session at Kingspan Stadium, so the thought process was still dominated by the weekend’s triumph, but Grant believes he saw enough to suggest they won’t dwell on it too long.
“Hopefully it’s the same as Ireland beating New Zealand, you see how they’ve had a good run of it a few times. Especially with young players, there’s no scar tissue there, so it’s good laying those memories at the start,” adds the former Scotland flanker.
“[The performance] wasn’t perfect, there are quite a few areas you can focus on to say we can be better. The opposition we’re playing now helps in that the Ospreys are a really good team who have gone well in the league, had some good wins and we’re going to get a backlash after their result against Connacht.
“It’s pretty easy to get [the message] across. In our forwards’ meeting this morning the guys spoke really passionately and it was a really good meeting. We’ll see if we can act on it as a collective and individually.
“It was a great result but there are huge areas for improvement, both technically, physically and emotionally. It’s an easy one that we have to move on – that can’t be the pinnacle of our performance.”
