A week ago Duane Vermeulen wasn’t part of the Springboks’ plans on this tour but he may end up captaining them against Italy next Saturday.

Vermeulen will owe that elevated status due to the fact that captain Eben Etzebeth suffered an injury that necessitated him leaving the field with quarter of an hour to go against France‚ while the next man in line for the armband‚ Siya Kolisi is returning home for the birth of his next child.

Vermeulen‚ who was last Sunday summoned from Toulon as official replacement for prop Coenie Oosthuizen‚ found himself in the starting team against France yesterday in the place of concussed utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit. The extent of Etzebeth’s injury wasn’t clear and the Springboks were opaque about the nature of the knock.

“Lower part of the leg‚” was all coach Allister Coetzee said to shed light on the matter before confirming Etzebeth will have a scan done on the affected area on Sunday.

The lock grimaced when seated next to the coach during the post match media conference. He sustained the injury when he got tackled in the build up to Jesse Kriel’s try that helped South Africa overcome France 18-17.

Vermeulen played down his role as stand-in captain in the closing stages of the Test‚ with Etzebeth and Kolisi both off the field.

“I only deputised for Eben. He led the team well. I don’t know why they said I should take the captaincy.

"There are players who are capable of doing it. We hope Eben will be ready for Italy next week‚” Vermeulen said modestly.

“I will definitely take the captaincy if it is offered to me. It will be an honour.”

His return to the side drew raised eyebrows last week. Coetzee has spoken of the complications in getting foreign based players to blend in quickly in the set-up.

Vermeulen however is an old hand and has been there before.

“It was good to be back and it happened a lot quicker than I thought. I got back into a side that was under a bit of pressure. I missed the set-up. It’s special‚” said the No8.

The Boks showed character in holding out France in the closing stages but Vermeulen was forthright about the performance.

“It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t a great win. We had to graft until the end and it could have gone either way. Given what happened last weekend this was a good comeback. They responded well.

“Before the game both sides were under pressure. The performance against Ireland was shocking and disappointing in a way.

“I wasn’t part of the team meeting last Sunday but I think a few hard words fell.

"By the time I joined the team on Monday the guys were already tuned in to what they should do. I think it was easy to slot in.”