Cameron Hanekom was still in the school benches at Paarl Boys’ High when his idol and the legendary Springboks’ No 8 Duane Vermeulen produced a Man-of-the-Match display in 2019 World Cup final against England.

But after Vermeulen retired from the game after winning his second World Cup medal in France in 2023, many people talked up Hanekom as a like-for-like replacement for the former Bok bruiser.

Hanekom is powerful and dynamic with ball in hand, while he is also a tough-tackling defender. Like Vermeulen, the Bulls No 8 is also very good at the breakdown and has the ability to steal his fair share of balls on the ground.

On Saturday, when he takes the field off the bench against Wales to earn his first cap for the Springboks, Hanekom will get the opportunity to start justifying those sentiments at international level.

🗣️ "It just shows that your hard work does pay off at the end of the day."

All smiles for Cameron Hanekom who is living the Springbok dream right now.#AutumnNationsSeries | @SpurRestaurant pic.twitter.com/X7iDujKI4u
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 19, 2024

It will be a big occasion for the 22-year-old loose forward, who was drafted into the squad following Damian Willemse’s injury withdrawal. But it will certainly help that he has Bok assistant coach Vermeulen guiding him this week.

"I've looked up to Duane since I was a kid, and now I call him Coach Duane. To be able to learn from someone who was recently still the best eighthman in the world, is a great honour and privilege," Hanekom said ahead of the Springboks’ final tour match .

"There was a collective effort to make sure I was prepared. The players are excited for me. Everything still feels unreal, it hasn't sunk in yet.

"Since childhood, I've dreamed of playing for the Boks. It's an unbelievable feeling that the dream comes true on Saturday. I'm very grateful, it's a great privilege. It gives me self-confidence before the match, knowing that they see something in me," he added.

Hanekom, who is the only genuine loose forward on the Boks’ bench for Wales, has featured for the Bulls in all three positions in the back row over the last year, and that is why coach Rassie Erasmus doesn’t want to put him in a “box” in terms of where he could feature off the bench.

However, Erasmus did say that Hanekom will most likely come in as a blindeside flank or a No 8, as they don’t see him as an opensider.

"In my days as a player, we were just a No 6 or 7, not open or blindside. I believe in it," said Erasmus.

"The only difference was if a guy can jump in the lineouts or not. Siya [Kolisi] is not a lineout jumper, but Cameron is. That's why he's good in the South African sense of a No 7 flanker. He's also a very good eighthman … athletic, fast and all over the field.

“Duane ran over people, Cameron can sidestep, he can hand-off tacklers and sometimes run over them. I don't think we can put him in a box and say he is exclusively a No 7. I think he can also be a very good eighth man, but I don't see him as a No 6.”

Erasmus added that he wanted Hanekom to express himself and not think to hard about the game. The Wales game is probably the best chance to blood a rookie, as they are going through a tough period, having lost their last 11 matches.

"For a guy like Cameron, and anyone who comes into the team, I think things that happen most in a match is running, the rucks - there's probably 140 in a game - and about 14 lineouts and eight scrums. We really want to see him focusing on his general game," said Erasmus.

"If he makes a mistake here and there at a lineout or in defence, those things happen in your first five Tests. But general play is usually where you find your feet. If he does what he always does, then things will go well for him."

@JohnGoliath82