Duane endorses this 'Eskom' blowing out the lights ahead of World Cup: 'He's phenomenal'

Marco van Staden is the one "Eskom" Duane Vermeulen and his fellow Springbok teammates would not mind causing a blackout ... of opponents, of course.

The evergreen stand-in national skipper for Saturday's Rugby Championship climax against Argentina at Ellis Park has endorsed his former Bulls colleague as one of the men hammering on the proverbial door for World Cup squad selection.

If there's indeed a man intimately familiar with Van Staden's renaissance as one of the country's best opensiders after Covid-19's hard lockdown, it's Vermeulen, who invariably wreaked havoc with him at Loftus as Jake White's early reign delivered various titles.

"I played a few times against Marco and then we became teammates at the Bulls and I didn't take long to realise that this man is one tough nut," said Vermeulen. 

"He's an interesting guy off the field, he's got some good stories to tell and it's a pleasure being in his company. There's a real energy to him."

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Affectionately nicknamed after the embattled parastatal because his thumping tackles and collisions leave many of his opponents close to seeing imaginary stars, Van Staden's battle with concussion after a move to English club Leicester in mid-2021 put his career in limbo for a while.

But White's eagerness to offer him a return to Hatfield proved inspired as the 26-year-old visibly matured into a senior player at the Bulls, showcasing outstanding consistency in a mediocre campaign riddled by several off-field dramas.

Handed a rare start against the Wallabies three weeks ago, Van Staden applied all those lessons and delivered arguably the best performance of his international career to date,