Duane visits familiar turf

Duane Vermeulen (above) is coming home. Or is he? In fact, where is home for Duane Vermeulen?

It’s a question the Springbok stalwart and now Ulster kingpin laughs about himself as he prepares to return to South Africa for the away leg – or in his case maybe even the home leg – of the United Rugby Championship.

First up will be a return to Cape Town for a match against the Stormers, followed by a trip to Loftus Versfeld to face the Bulls and Vermeulen obviously has history with both these teams.

“I think for the first match in Cape Town, the fans there will be reminding me about where my mother comes from and her Cape roots, and then the second week in Pretoria I may just get a brandy and Coke thrown at me,” Vermeulen says with a hearty laugh as he considers the reception he’ll face playing his first match on South African rugby fields in the colours of Irish giants Ulster.

“I have the best memories of my time playing for the Stormers and the Bulls. I enjoyed every minute. But I suppose there’s a time to come and go.

“I think moving on and going to a different club was the right call for me at this point in my career. But it will definitely be a bittersweet homecoming.

“I’m looking forward to playing against the familiar faces and hopefully show a bit of the new tricks I’ve learned up north. I’m sure I’ll also have a few of them gunning for me to prove a point.”

Vermeulen is certainly no stranger to this adjustment as his rugby journey has taken him from South Africa to Asia and Europe.

Now the 35-year-old is reinventing himself again in the colours of Ulster and in an entirely new competition such as the United Rugby Championship.

So what keeps driving Duane Vermeulen?

“The passion for the game. It’s a simple as that. My passion for this game is still there. Everyone will say you want to achieve greatness and the opportunity is there to do something special in a new and exciting competition. As Ulster we’re definitely out to win this and not just compete,” he said.