Duane injury a big concern

Cape Town - The Springboks are sweating over the availability of No 8 Duane Vermeulen, who is laid low by a neck injury.

Vermeulen missed the Stormers’ Super Rugby qualifier against the Brumbies two weeks ago, with the Cape franchise at the time indicating he would in all likelihood have been fit for a possible semi-final.

The Stormers lost their playoff game to the Brumbies but it’s likely that Vermeulen would not have played had they progressed to the semi-finals the following week.

The injury appears more severe as initially stated and the burly No 8 was sent to Durban on Thursday to obtain another specialist opinion on his injury.

However, the final results will only be available at a later stage, SARU announced via a press statement.

Vermeulen will continue to do the bulk of his rehabilitation work with the Springbok squad as they prepare for the upcoming Test season.