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Cape Town - Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen has revealed that he dislocated his shoulder in the first half of last Saturday’s Test against Wales in Cardiff.
Vermeulen carried on playing until the 64th minute before being substituted by Francois Louw.
However it was an incident that occurred in the 62nd minute that became a big talking point after Vermeulen was seen chatting to the Springbok coaching box via a microphone handed to him by fitness guru Aled Walters.
The incident caused somewhat of a social media storm, with with some critics suggesting it undermined the captaincy of Siya Kolisi.
Erasmus on Monday told Netwerk24 that Vermeulen was merely telling him that he was injured and could no longer carry on.
Vermeulen was treated for a shoulder injury - the likely cause of the dislocation - in the 30th minute, meaning he continued playing for close to 35 minutes with the injury.
This was confirmed by the burly No 8 on Twitter on Tuesday.
“That is correct as I dislocated my shoulder in the first half,” Vermeulen wrote.
Erasmus said he had no choice but to substitute Vermeulen.
“I saw how Duane injured his shoulder and was holding it, while the doctor and physio were busy attending to other players.
“Aled didn’t see it but he was closest to Duane, so I asked him to ask Duane if he was okay. Duane couldn’t understand why he was asking and said he wanted to quickly talk to me himself. He told me his shoulder was too sore to continue playing,” the Bok coach said.
That is correct as I dislocated my shoulder in the first half. https://t.co/mztL8l3dXb
— Duane Vermeulen (@duane_vermeulen) November 27, 2018
