This article appeared in the Sunday Times of London last week and was written by one of the leading journalists in world rugby, Stephen Jones. Vermeulen living the World Cup ’miracle’ with Namibia Namibia’s head coach recounts his personal journey through adversity ahead of the World Cup next year Stephen Jones Published: 9 November 2014 NO OFFENCE to charming Colwyn Bay, but seaside resorts out of season can be bleak. On Wednesday, the voice of the bingo caller in Premier Amusements echoed up and down the empty street. It was not a day when you expected to meet one of the finest men of your whole rugby experience. But it happened anyway. In a hotel just inland, Danie Vermeulen, head coach of Namibia, had finished selection for Friday’s friendly against Canada at the tiny Parc Eirias. He had sat with his few backroom staff (like most of the players, and the Namibia union officials, they are amateur). “We’ve only one physio,” says Jacques Burger, the captain, and heroic Saracen. So how deprived did Vermeulen feel, so far from the moneyed teams playing this weekend in various rugby cathedrals? He didn’t. “It’s a good place, very hospitable, the food is excellent. And you must remember the path we have taken to be here.” Indeed we must. Epic doesn’t come into it. Namibia were once good enough to beat Ireland, twice. But they had declined, their union became a shambles. “When I came in, we didn’t have any finance at all, some of our few pro players were unhappy and we were in the African second division — to be promoted last year, we had to go to Dakar, right up in the north of Africa, to play against Senegal, Tunisia and Botswana,” says Vermeulen. Then, the World Cup qualifying event this year — in deprived and rugby-mad Madagascar, where they can draw 40,000 for home games in Antananarivo. Shockingly, Namibia opened by losing to Kenya. “We were 12 points up in eight minutes, and then it was as if someone had turned out the lights. We died.” On the last day of the tournament, Zimbabwe made a total hash of what seemed the easy bonus-point win over Kenya they needed to reach the World Cup. “They were driving Kenya to pieces from the lineout, but when they needed only one more try they opted for a shot at goal instead of a lineout.” Namibia needed a 53-point win over Madagascar to rescue themselves. Dramatically, they made it. “We are quite a religious group, and when we reflected afterwards how much things have gone our way, it was incredible. We look upon it as a miracle day.” Vermeulen has his own story. He played for Namibia in his early 20s, as an effervescent and powerful prop. In a domestic game against the touring Griquas, he was spotted by Andre Markgraaff, soon to become Springbok coach. He was duly signed by the Golden Cats in Johannesburg in Super Rugby. As a callow 22-year-old loosehead he was suddenly playing with his own heroes. “It was an unbelievable experience. We had Rassie Erasmus, Chester Williams, Andre Venter, and Japie Mulder. Legendary players. “ He had a season in France with Dax, but decided against a second season because of homesickness. “None of the coaches and few of the players spoke English. In the morning I would say good evening to someone and they’d say good morning.” And he was now nearing the end of what he calls his first life. Markgraaff was still chasing, wanted him to play on the weekend he returned from France for the South African Barbarians, with a view to incorporating him into the Springboks squad. He decided not to. “I hadn’t been to Namibia for some time and I decided to visit my family.” That weekend, he decided he wanted to go to a wildlife auction so he dropped Wendy, his wife, at her parents’ house. On the way back a tyre burst on a dirt road, the vehicle flipped over and he broke his back. He was rendered paraplegic. If only he had stayed in Dax, or played for the Barbarians, or stayed at home that day. “Looking back, there are a lot of decisions I would have made differently. Jeez, I must be honest with you, that first year was very tough. I admit that I had always been a little uncomfortable when in the company of a disabled person. “I had been living and playing with all that adrenaline and suddenly you were sitting around with all those emotions and nowhere to go, probably not feeling like a man, not being the one who could provide. The wheelchair they gave me was meant to have a lifetime of five years. But it only managed to survive one year, I threw it all over the place.” “Namibia is not really wheelchair friendly. One time I went to Windhoek and when I got back, two cars had parked alongside so I couldn’t get my chair in. I had to wait an hour-and-a-half for someone to come back. “In the beginning you want to get into a fist fight, then you gradually realise it’s not going to help. So you learn to go and have a coffee and wait. You learn to adapt to a new life.” Wendy and his family have been “hugely supportive”. On Wednesday he waved his hand around the coaches’ room. “I feel really pleased and privileged now, working with these guys.” Namibia’s union is transformed, their pro players are returning to the fold. They have huge shortfalls in terms of resource to overcome. But to experience the commitment of their players and the life-affirmation of their coach reminds you that both sporting success and financial clout are only two of the many measuring rods of life, neither of them among the most vital. “It is very important in life to realise what you have. At least in Senegal most of the people had shoes, although the changing rooms were so bad that we could not go into them. In Madagascar, so many people were barefoot, some of the deprivation was very difficult to take.” Does he see it as a triumph for the disabled that he is coaching in the World Cup from a wheelchair? Not really. He is not on his own crusade. “I am not doing this for the money or for any other reason except that I am proud of my country and of our team. I think we qualified through a miracle, so now we believe that something special is waiting for us in the future.”
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 16:53:05 +0000
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