‘I get really angry about it’ – South African slams ‘frustrating’ roadblock stopping him pulling on England jersey
Exeter Chiefs man Jacques Vermeulen.
Exeter Chiefs star Jacques Vermeulen has been left frustrated as he is still not eligible for England despite having played in the country since 2019.
Vermeulen rose through the ranks in Durban where he represented the Sharks between 2017 and 2019 before making the switch to the Premiership where he has been since.
U20 issue
The loose forward has played some really good rugby in Devon and is believed to be one of the players England are keeping an eye on amid the eligibility debacle which has been complicated by Vermeulen playing for South Africa U20 at the 2015 U20 Championship as it is considered the country’s second side.
He does not have a parent or a grandparent born in England so that avenue does not apply, Vermeulen does qualify on the five-year residency rule but is still awaiting citizenship.
Vermeulen used examples of Scotland’s South African-born duo Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe when expressing his frustration about the situation.
“It’s very frustrating,” he told BBC Radio Devon.
“I don’t know why they’re stopping it because how can they say when you were 19 or 20 years old now you’re capped for a country, but you played for the Under-20s.”
“I don’t think they can still keep you underneath that because if you go – look how many guys are playing for Scotland that were playing for Junior Boks, guys like Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, like there’s so many guys.
“I get really angry about it because I’m like, how can you stop a guy after they played 10 years ago for a country.”
Durban return
Part of Exeter’s season sees the side travel to Vermeulen’s old side the Sharks in Durban and he is excited to show his teammates his old stomping ground.
“I am really excited. I played for them for three years, had a lovely three years with them as well,” he said.
“My rugby career really kicked off there, I played some of my best rugby for them before I came here to the Chiefs and it’s really exciting for me to show the boys around.
“All the lads in the squad has been asking ‘how is Durban?’ and I can’t say enough good things about Durban because it’s such a beautiful place to go to.”
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