THERE was a curious moment in the last minute at Murrayfield last night when a message suddenly flashed up on our screens “Duhan van der Merwe, yellow, low degree of danger”.
It was of course a communication dialled from the anonymous man in the bunker who had decided not to upgrade the South African’s late tip tackle to red.
The irony, however, was delicious. Low degree of danger? Van der Merwe was absolutely bloody lethal all day long, a deadly finisher at the very top of his game. Pound for pound probably the most dangerous player in this year’s Six Nations given that the “Great One” is off playing sevens in Vancouver with France.
Low degree of danger? He was a bloody menace who needed monitoring and shackling from start to finish. I’m not sure we really appreciate what an incredible finisher van der Merwe is, that’s 26 tries now in just 37 Tests for Scotland which already puts him in second place on the all time list behind Stuart Hogg. And the vast majority have been absolute belters like the brace he got against England at Twickenham last year. He only seems to score special tries.
His hat-trick yesterday – the first ever Scotland hat-trick in the Calcutta Cup in its 153 year history – was another case in point showcasing his full range of skills, blazing pace, eye for space, willingness to counterattack, outside ability under the high ball and just the sheer composure the great try scorers display. He makes it all look pretty simple, in fact he sometimes appears to be running at just 90 per cent with plenty in reserve.
Nor does he appear to break sweat very often. Cool as you like even in the predictable madness of a Calcutta Cup game.
Given his physical attributes and mental strength Van der Merwe was born for greatness, it’s just that we probably thought it would be with the Boks. A western Cape boy from George, he was schooled in Pretoria and the Blue Bulls Academy and first came to prominence in 2014 as a replacement for South Africa in the World U20 final against England when England, skippered by Maro Itoje, scraped home 21-20.
A big injury robbed him of the 2015 season and the following year there were just a handful appearances for the Bulls. Van der Merwe was a man in a hurry and felt his career was stalling so took himself off to Montpellier where starts were also scarce before finally joining Edinburgh in 2017.
That’s where the Scotland story starts, and the controversy for some. With no previous allegiance or family connections and having arrived in Scotland’s capital because it didn’t work out in Montpellier he suddenly found his feet and made a name for himself, earning good money with the exchange rate with rand only accentuating that.
Thr
