Stormers stunned at Duane’s unveiling

Cape Town - The Stormers were unaware that captain Duane Vermeulen had travelled to France to be unveiled by his new French club, Toulon this week.

Vermeulen, 28, is currently sidelined with a neck injury and will sit out the Stormers’ Super Rugby qualifier against the Brumbies at Newlands this Saturday, which saw him to fly to France to be unveiled to Toulon fans.

He will join Toulon on a three-year deal after this year’s Super Rugby competition, but will be available for the Springboks in 2015.

Stormers Director of Rugby Gert Smal told Sport24 late on Thursday evening that they were taken aback by Vermeulen’s sudden departure to France.

Smal commented: "We're obviously not happy with what we've seen in the media, with the pictures and press coverage from Toulon. However, we cannot comment on the matter until we have spoken to Duane Vermeulen upon his return from France.

 "Our only focus at this stage is on the 23 players that are fit and have thus been selected in the Stormers squad for Saturday's Super Rugby Qualifier against the Brumbies and to ensure that they remain focused on the task at hand, which is winning and progressing further in the tournament."

Toulon posted the following via their official Twitter account on Thursday: "Duane Vermeulen discovers his new club and training ground."

Duane Vermeulen découvre ses nouvelles couleurs et le terrain d'entraînement pic.twitter.com/3BGpNAugpi

— RCT - RC Toulon (@RCTofficiel) June 18, 2015