{"id":221100,"date":"2019-10-18T14:22:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T12:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/221100\/two-former-hoerskool-nelspruit-pupils-face-rugby-world-cup-quarter-final\/"},"modified":"2019-10-18T14:22:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T12:22:00","slug":"two-former-hoerskool-nelspruit-pupils-face-rugby-world-cup-quarter-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/sports-news\/2019\/10\/18\/two-former-hoerskool-nelspruit-pupils-face-rugby-world-cup-quarter-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Two former Ho\u00ebrskool Nelspruit pupils face each other in Rugby World Cup quarter-final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two former Ho\u00ebrskool Nelspruit (NHS) pupils, Duane Vermeulen and Wimpie van der Walt, will face each other in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final at the Tokyo Stadium in Japan on Sunday,\u00a0<a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/lowvelder.co.za\/508806\/two-former-hoerskool-nelspruit-pupils-face-rugby-world-cup-quarter-final\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lowvelder reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Both were brought up by single mothers, often under very difficult circumstances. They have both become men of exceptional character.<br \/>\nDuane has been selected as eighthman for the Springboks and Wimpie is on the bench for Japan, and will come on as a loose-forward replacement during the match.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<div class='tie-fluid-width-video-wrapper tie-ignore-fitvid' style='margin-bottom: 30px;'>\n\t\t\t<iframe style='width: 100%; min-height: 300px; aspect-ratio: 16\/9;' src='https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/Yp37c1z8KNI' loading='lazy'><\/iframe>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is a very proud occasion for Ho\u00ebrskool Nelspruit, which will have two former first team players, both loose-forwards, on the field on Sunday.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>When Japan played South Africa in a World Cup warm-up match at Kumagaya Stadium on September 6, Duane played at number 8 for the Boks, but Wimpie was not selected for Japan.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_230151\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-230151\" style=\"width: 165px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-230151\" src=\"https:\/\/albertonrecord.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2019\/10\/duane-nhs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"165\" height=\"305\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-230151\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Duane Vermeulen, playing for NHS\u2019s first team in 2004.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Duane attended Laerskool Nelspruit where he first learned his rugby. He then was a pupil at Ho\u00ebrskool Nelspruit from 2000 to 2005. In 2004 and 2005 he played for the Pumas Craven Week team.<\/p>\n<p>In 2006 to 2007 he played 26 matches for the senior Pumas team.<\/p>\n<p>Wimpie learned his rugby in the colours of Komatipoort Akademie and then attended Ho\u00ebrskool Nelspruit from 2002 to 2005. In his grade 9 year, he represented the Pumas at the Craven Week. The following year he was contracted the Western Province Rugby Academy and did not matriculate at NHS.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_230150\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-230150\" style=\"width: 512px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-230150\" src=\"https:\/\/albertonrecord.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2019\/10\/wIMPIE-aKA-BLOOD-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"443\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-230150\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wimpie van der Walt in the change room after playing a match for Komatipoort Akademie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the 2009 and 2010 seasons Duane and Wimpie were teammates in the Western Province senior team.<\/p>\n<p><em>Lowvelder<\/em>\u00a0contacted Wimpie\u2019s mother Rina, on comment concerning her son\u2019s achievements. \u00a0When asked if she had a message for\u00a0<em>Lowvelder<\/em>\u2019s online readers, she immediately teared up.<\/p>\n<p>Rina explained that she was a single mum, and times were very tough when she brought up Wimpie, his two brothers and sister. Wimpie is the youngest.<\/p>\n<p>Their father abandoned the family when Wimpie was five years old.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI just want to thank the (Komatipoort) community. I was a single mother; we battled, but with much perseverance we came out on top. The people supported us in so many ways. I am so grateful. To Harry van Dyk (who helped Wimpie with his rugby) I am eternally grateful,\u201c she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>She also proudly stated that she will be supporting Japan on Sunday.<\/p>\n<h2>Growing up in the Lowveld<\/h2>\n<p>Duane was also brought up by a single mum. His father passed away when he was seven year old.<\/p>\n<p>Duane\u2019s mother, Estalien, is presently in Durbanville with Duane\u2019s \u00a0wife Ezel, her grandchildren, her daughter and future son-in-law. They are all going to watch the match together Sunday on television.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe Springboks must play their hearts out. To the team \u2013 enjoy it and you will win. You will bring the trophy home. I know Duane will give everything \u2013 that is the way he\u2019s always been,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Faf de Klerk, who attended Laerskool Bergland, will start at scrum half for the Boks in the quarter-final.<\/p>\n<p>Vincent Koch, who played 51 matches for the Phakisa Pumas from 2012 to 2016, will be on the bench and will come on as a replacement tighthead prop.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_230152\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-230152\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-230152\" src=\"https:\/\/albertonrecord.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2019\/10\/WIMPIE-AND-DUANE.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"899\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-230152\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wimpie van der Walt and Duane Vermeulen after the World Cup warm-up match.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='115093213041c0d1c7de0079972716ee'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One will wear the green and gold of the Springboks, the other the red and white hoops of the Cherry Blossoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8279,"featured_media":221102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Caxton Central","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8428,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby-world-cup","category-sports-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"Sport","SubCategory":"Rugby World Cup"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}