Baxter's delight at landing Vermeulen
By Mark Stevens
16/9/19
Rob Baxter says he hopes to have new signing Jacques Vermeulen up and running ‘pretty soon’ after the South African today completed his move to the Exeter Chiefs.
The 24-year-old forward is Baxter’s seventh capture of the close season, arriving in Devon on a three-year deal from Super Rugby outfit, the Sharks.
Fresh from featuring in both Super Rugby and the Currie Cup for the Natal-based club this season, the imposing Vermeulen - who stands at 6ft 5in tall and weighs in at 113kg - will offer plenty of options to the Chiefs as he is equally at home either in the back-row or at lock.
And like compatriot and fellow newcomer Jannes Kirsten, Vermeulen will offer plenty of physicality to the Chiefs as they look to attack both domestically and in Europe this term.
Commenting on the arrival of the former South African Under-20s international, Baxter said: “Obviously we’re delighted to have Jacques on board for the new season. He’s arrived at just the right time because we’ve still got one or two guys coming back from injuries and surgery over the summer.
“We’re fortunate we’ve got the later start to the season as it meant he has been about to get his playing commitments back home done and dusted before moving over. Now that he is here, we’ll give him a couple of days to acclimatise himself to his new surroundings, and then he will be pretty much ready to go and we’ll get him involved in some rugby.”
Having featured regularly for the Sharks in both Super Rugby and the Currie Cup, Baxter knows Vermeulen will not need a great deal of training to get him ready for his first taste of English rugby.
“He’s coming straight out of season over in South Africa, so we don’t think it will take him too long to get up to speed with us,” added the Chiefs’ Director of Rugby. “You can see straight away he’s a big guy and that he looks physically strong. That said, we often say with Super Rugby players, especially the forwards, there is still a fair bit of physical development we can get out of them because there is so much travel and moving around when you play in that competition.
“We’ve seen with others that once you get a good, structured gym programme into them - and you work day to day with guys, then they can make real strides. From what we’ve seen already of Jacques, he looks good, but as always we think we can get him even better.
“He’s obviously used to the physical elements of the game, but what we are looking for most is further growth within his game. We can see he’s a good ball-carrier, but I’m excited to see him get better. We can see he’s a good tackler, but again I’m excited to see him get better. One of his key attributes is he’s a strong set-piece forward, but give him a bit of time with Rob Hunter and I’ve no doubt he will be even better.”
And Baxter also believes his new addition will also add some genuine competition for places amongst the Chiefs forwards moving forward.
“I do like sometimes when new players arrive during the season because it just freshen things up a little and it creates a bit of a mental stir amongst the other players,” added Baxter. “Because he can play across the back five it will offer us a number of different options in that area. In long seasons - as we say last year - you tend to get through a lot of bodies in that area, so I don’t mind if we have guys looking a little uncomfortable about where they stand because more often than not, that tends to bring the best out in people.”