Duhan van der Merwe sends scary reminder to URC of what he’s capable of
Scotland and British & Irish Lions wing Duhan van der Merwe marked his return to Edinburgh in style on Saturday after just over a year away.
After the winger’s former club Worcester Warriors went into administration recently, he made the move back to the Scottish capital and made his second debut against Benetton at the DAM Health Stadium on Saturday. It was some debut as well, as Edinburgh won 53-8.
The 27-year-old was on the scoresheet twice in the match, with both tries coming in the second half. The first sent a scary reminder to the rest of the league of what he can do. Running off scrum-half Henry Pyrgos at a ruck, the 105kg wing was able to bust through two tackles before stepping the last defender in a tight space in a freaky display of power and agility. His pace was also shown for the second try, although that was slightly easier.
His coach Mike Blair said after the match: “Duhan got a bit of ball and was shrugging guys off in the first half but not getting anywhere.
“He was boxed into a hole at times, but once he got a little bit of space he showed what he can do.”
On the other wing Darcy Graham continued his fine start to the season with two more tries to extend his lead as the competition’s top try scorer.
Here was van der Merwe’s first try:
Here was van der Merwe’s second try:
Edinburgh Rugby: Emiliano Boffelli, Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe, Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos, Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist (CAPT), Nick Haining, Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata
Replacements: Adam McBurney, Boan Venter, Luan de Bruin, Jamie Hodgson, Ben Muncaster, Charlie Shiel, Charlie Savala, Chris Dean
Benetton: Edoardo Padovani, Mattia Bellini, Tommaso Menoncello, Marco Zanon, Ratuva Tavuyara, Tomas Albornoz, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Thomas Gallo, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Nahuel Tetaz, Marco Lazzaroni (CAPT), Carl Wegner, Abraham Steyn, Toa Halafihi, Henry Time-Stowers
Replacements: Manuel Arroyo, Federico Zani, Tiziano Pasquali, Nicola Piantella, Alessandro Izekor, Manfredi Albanese, Filippo Drago, Dewi Passarella
