Jacques Vermeulen’s passport was stolen while he was on vacation in his hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, robbing the English Premiership and the Exeter Chiefs in particular of one of their key players.
According to devonlive.com, Vermuelen is currently stolen in South Africa and missed the Chiefs’ opening match of the new English season last week due to a passport theft.
Vermeulen played 12 matches for Western Province and 38 for the Sharks before signing a three-year contract with Exeter in 2019.
As one of the club’s most prized players, the 27-year-old travelled to South Africa during the English offseason to renew his passport, only to have it stolen.
Vermeulen is a rugged flanker who has scored 19 tries in 46 games for the Chiefs. He would have been the Chiefs’ first choice against the Leicester Tigers in last week’s Premiership opener. Fortunately for Vermuelen and the Chiefs, they triumphed 24-20.
Exeter is currently attempting to secure an emergency visa for Vermeulen, although it seems unlikely that he will be available for Sunday’s match against the Worcester Warriors in round two of the Premiership.
Vermeulen is one of England’s most strong loose forwards, weighing 113 kilograms and standing just over 2 meters tall (1.97m).
Vermeulen, who played Paarl Gimnasium, represented SA Schools in 2013, and SA Under-20 in 2014 and 2015.