Vermeulen plays as a Number eight but he is equally adept at playing both blindside and openside flanker. He began his career in the Free State, playing for the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup and the Cheetahs in the Super 14. He eventually followed his former coach Rassie Erasmus and joined the much larger and more competitive Western Province rugby union in 2009 after three seasons with the Free State. Although putting in some strong displays for the Stormers in the 2010 Super 14 season, where the Stormers made it all the way to the final, and looking like being a certain selection for the Springboks, Vermeulen was not called into the Springbok squad that faced Wales, Italy and France. He was also omitted from the Springboks 2010 Tri Nations Series squad. Before his first full international cap, he represented South Africa at the second level of international rugby, appearing for the Emerging Springboks. One highlight of his appearances for the Emerging Boks was being in the squad that performed against the British and Irish Lions, holding them to a 13–13 draw, during their tour to South Africa in 2009. After a stand out Currie Cup domestic Rugby Season, Vermeulen was named as part of the 39-man preliminary training squad ahead of the 2010 end of year grand slam tour to the Northern Hemisphere. He was once again overlooked for selection in the final squad. Injuries plagued Vermeulen's 2011 and early 2012 seasons, however, after playing just 9 games of Super Rugby, was selected as part of Heyneke Meyer's squad for the away leg of the Rugby Championship. Vermeulen has twice won the Currie Cup, in 2007 with the Free State and in 2012 with Western Province. In 2014, he was one of five nominees for the IRB Player of the Year award. He was then named captain of the Stormers for the 2015 Super Rugby season. Whilst out with a neck injury, in June 2015 Vermeulen flew to France to be unveiled as a post-2015 Rugby World Cup signing for Top 14 club RC Toulonnais. After a short spell in Japan with Kubota Spears, Vermeulen travelled back to his home nation of South Africa as a -player, signing in October 2018.
International career
On 8 September 2012, Vermeulen made his international debut for South Africa, where he formed part of the starting lineup going up against Australia. He was selected again to start the following week against New Zealand in Dunedin, where South Africa lost by 10 points. On 29 September 2012, South Africa beat Australia 31 – 8, a victory which marked Vermeulen's first Springbok win. He was selected for the Springboks' 2012 Northern Hemisphere tour. Vermeulen received a man of the match award for his performance against England at Twickenham during this tour, based on a number of vital turnovers on the ground, 15 hard tackles, and his role of primary ball carrier on the day. On 2 November 2019, Vermeulen played in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final against England. He was part of the South African team that won their third World Cup at the Yokohama Stadium in Japan. He was awarded a man of the match award for his performance where he made a number of vital contributions, including 10 carries, making 49 meters and 2 turnovers.
Test Match Record
Against
P
W
D
L
Tri
Pts
%Won
6
6
0
0
1
5
6
4
0
2
0
0
7
5
0
2
1
5
3
3
0
0
0
0
4
2
0
2
0
0
3
3
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
9
1
1
7
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
5
5
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
7
5
0
2
1
5
Total
54
38
1
15
3
15
Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored
