How Elrigh Louw earned Duane Vermeulen's respect after training ground clash

The powerhouse back-rower joined the Bulls in 2020 after a stint with the Southern Kings and in one of his first sessions with the senior squad, he infamously clashed with Springbok great Vermeulen.

As a new arrival in Pretoria and being just 21 years old, Louw was eager to make his mark in training with his new team and as luck would have it, he did so against the Bok great and impressed director of rugby Jake White in doing so.

During a training session, the youngster ran 'through' Vermeulen, catching the great number eight unawares during what was supposed to be a semi-contact session. His actions caused a bit of a scuffle between the pair in training.

"I think the media definitely blew it up, it wasn't that bad," Louw recounted on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby South Africa podcast.

"It was one of my first training sessions that I was in with the team and I was on let's call it the second team, I got the ball and it was supposed to be shoulder check - you weren't supposed to tackle a guy. I didn't know that because I was always running on the sideline and I wasn't in training, it was just when I arrived at the Bulls.

"I didn't even see who it was and I ran straight and I ran through him [Vermeulen], obviously he didn't expect that so I'm sure if he expected it, it would have been a different story."

The rookie's action did not go unchecked by his boss White, who stirred the pot, taking a cheeky jab at Vermeulen for getting flattened by the new signing.

However, Vermeulen did not take it easy on the newbie and taught him a tough lesson by landing two heavy shots of his own but, by that stage, Louw had already earned the Bok veteran's respect.

"Coach Jake called him and he told him 'Daai laaitie het jou naam gat gemaak' [translation: 'That kid made you look like a clown']," Louw added.

"And Duane said: 'No, I'll show you' and from a five-metre lineout, I came around the corner and there he was waiting for me and this time he was expecting it and he did not stand back.

"I think he hit me hard twice, so after that, he came to me and said that he respected me for the way I trained and there was no bad blood. From that moment on we have been quite good friends."

Fellow Springbok Schalk Brits, who was retired by this stage, added that he had spoken to Vermeulen about Louw at the time.

"Even when I tried I asked him about you and he said: 'That kid is the real deal'," Brits added.

"Obviously, he didn't say real deal and he spoke Afrikaans but he said 'yster' [iron]."

Louw would go on to follow in Vermeulen's footsteps by debuting for the Springboks in 2022, featuring four times off the bench for the side that year.

However, he would have to wait until 2024 to add to his Test tally and earned his first start against Australia in the historic win over the Wallabies in Brisbane and retained his starting role a week later. 

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