Duane Vermeulen, billed as "one of the greatest Number 8's in rugby"

A short tribute to the two-time World Cup winner from South Africa drew Ulster supporters, a Kiwi and one very hungry theory into the comments.

Channel: RugbyPassStory of October 5, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 112,090 views a day, 45 times a normal first day on this channel (2,499).

One of the greatest Number 8's in rugby 🏉

RugbyPass gave Duane Vermeulen a few seconds of screen time and a big title, and the Springbok back-rower carried it a long way. The short, "One of the greatest Number 8's in rugby," passed 100,000 views within 20 hours. A new short here usually settles near 2,500 on its first day.

The description credits him with anchoring the Springbok scrum through sheer physical presence, work rate and rugby brain. His record makes that easy to believe. Vermeulen was a starter on the South Africa side that won the 2019 World Cup in Japan, where he was named player of the match in the final. He was back in green when the Boks won it again in 2023.

The comments arrived far faster than this channel's shorts usually draw them. Most are a running vote on whether "one of" undersells him. The most liked one ignores that debate and guesses he was thinking about what he would eat after the game. An Ulster supporter is still delighted the province got two seasons out of him. A New Zealander adds his vote for the best No. 8 of all, and a couple of viewers ask whether he is still playing.

The tribute lands a few days after the channel asked whether New Zealand's 2015 side or South Africa's 2023 team was the best ever. Vermeulen played for one of them.

Published on Trari

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More from RugbyPassVideo taking off 48x its usual first dayThree words and an ellipsis carry RugbyPass past 100,000 viewsThe title gives almost nothing away, yet the clip drew close to fifty times the audience a new RugbyPass upload usually gathers on its first day.Channel: RugbyPass · Story of September 30, 2026

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The numbers

For an official channel whose shorts usually start quietly, this first day sits in a different league.

the video's first day

usual first day here

2,499

this video

112,090

subscribers

337,000

▲ 1,000 in the last 7 days

total views

246,514,504

views per day

363,807

typical day: 280,988

the video

views

102,522

likes

1,341

comments

46

days online

1

compared with similar channels (subscribers)

RugbyPass

337,000

US GOLF TV

337,000

Best Gymnastics

336,000

NRL on Nine

336,000

The Art of Simple Golf

334,000

Skratch

331,000

As of October 5, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.

Where next?

Also in Golf, cycling and other sportsVideo taking off 16x its usual first dayA bike throw at the line: Remco Evenepoel pips Giulio Ciccone for the European titleThe two had gone clear together, Evenepoel had crashed along the way, and the closing seconds of the race have drawn about twenty times the comments a TNT Spor…Channel: TNT Sports Cycling · Story of October 5, 2026 A different discovery todayVideo taking off 44x its usual first dayAlan Alda, at 90, on polio, Hawkeye and living with Parkinson'sHis conversation with Dr. Jon LaPook led a busy Sunday for the program, and a longer web-only cut of the same interview ran well ahead of the usual too.Channel: CBS Sunday Morning · Story of October 5, 2026