Ever since Duane Vermeulen was left out of the squad for the end of year tour to Europe, rumours have swirled about a falling out with Bok coach Allister Coetzee.

Of course Coetzee has denied any such rift, but it wasn’t very long ago that Duane lashed out following the embarrassing loss to the All Blacks last month (HERE), and you have to wonder if that played a role.

Now, rather than backing down, Big Duane has continued to level criticism at the Springbok set-up. Below from Sport24:

“You never hear current players say anything about the game but we are the guys who are really in there and see what is happening. Maybe I am the first active player to voice their opinion, but that is a good thing.

“I just wanted to stand up for the players. Other people feel they cannot say anything. If that hinders my opportunity to be selected, then so be it. I stand by what I said. It is just giving people the facts of what is going on.”

It’s the lack of leadership up top that he seems most upset with:

“The most important thing is that people should pull in the same direction,” he added.

“At the moment, it is just chaos. Everyone has their own agendas. That’s my opinion. That’s how I felt within the set-up.”

You have to wonder if there’s any way back for Duane now, much the same as it seems that Francois Steyn may have donned the green and gold for the final time.

He remains hopeful that he makes the 2019 World Cup over in Japan, but with comments such as these the big dogs running the show might have something to say about that.

Will the Boks beat the Barbarians this Saturday? Maybe, given the exhibition style of these matches, but it will be a different story when it comes to the English (Twickenham, November 12) and the Welsh (Millennium Stadium, November 26).

At least there’s a winnable match against the Italians sandwiched in between…

[source:sport24]