Vermeulen to 'switch on' as he returns to the Bok side for All Blacks showdown

The 36-year-old makes a return to the South African side after he missed the series against Wales in July due to a knee injury.

“Mentally switching on is probably the easiest part for me, because I’ve been in the game for several years,” Vermeulen told media on Wednesday.

“I think mentally you’re always switched on because it’s international rugby. You’ve got to switch on and work with the coaches. You get a lot of information and must work through that with the and the team.

“I think the physical part, we’ll just have to wait and see, I haven’t played a game in six to eight weeks, obviously we’re going to be playing at altitude, I think it would make a difference.  We don’t play with 15 guys we play with 23, so I’ve got to give it my best and see how far I can push myself. 

“We’ve got a strong group of guys I’m going to give it my best and see how far I can push myself.

Vermeulen missed the opening encounter against New Zealand at the Mbombela Stadium, which saw SA claim a 26-10 victory.

Vermeulen added he would take on the opposing eighth man, Ardie Savea with his team and not a one-on-one battle.

“We play number eight, but we play a different style, we play together as a squad and as a loose trio, we’ve got our ways of dealing with players and what their loose trio has to offer.

“For us it’s not a one-v-one battle its obviously a team battle, for us if you step up and give it your best and every single guy produces then we will be pretty happy with our results then.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster made four changes to the squad which will see Shannon Frizell starting at flanker who replaces Akira Ioane.

George Bower and Angus Ta’avao both move to the bench as props Tyrell Lomax and Ethan de Groot replace them respectively.

Uncapped Fletcher Newell will start from the bench.

Kick-off is at 17h05 at the Emirates Airline Park on Saturday, 13 August.