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Duhan van der Merwe

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Duhan van der Merwe
van der Merwe playing for Montpellier in 2016
Date of birth (1995-06-04) 4 June 1995 (age 29)
Place of birthSouth Africa
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight106.1 kg (234 lb; 16 st 10 lb)
SchoolHoërskool Outeniqua
UniversityUniversity of Pretoria
Notable relative(s)Akker van der Merwe (brother)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Current team Edinburgh Rugby
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016 Blue Bulls 2 (0)
2016–2017 Montpellier 4 (15)
2017–2021 Edinburgh Rugby 67 (160)
2021–2022 Worcester Warriors 17 (40)
2022– Edinburgh Rugby 17 (35)
Correct as of 25 February 2024
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014 South Africa U20 2 (0)
2020– Scotland 39 (130)
2021 British & Irish Lions 3 (0)
Correct as of 16 March 2024

Duhan van der Merwe (born 4 June 1995) is a rugby player who plays as a wing for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Born in South Africa, he now represents the Scotland rugby union team after qualifying on residency grounds.

Van der Merwe began playing in George, South Africa, at Outeniqa High School, gaining provincial recognition through his performances at youth tournaments. By 2012, his talent was recognized at the Under-18 Craven Week, leading to his selection for the South Africa Schools team. His contributions in the Under-18 International Series were significant, marking him as a top scorer.

Transitioning into professional rugby, Van der Merwe joined the Blue Bulls' academy in 2014, making an impact by replacing an injured team member in the South Africa Under-20 squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship. His performances were key for the team's advancement to the finals. His domestic career flourished with the Blue Bulls U19. After a brief hiatus in 2015 due to surgery, he returned to contribute to the Blue Bulls U21 and UP Tuks, leading as a top scorer in the Varsity Cup.

His move to Montpellier Hérault Rugby, in France, in 2016 was followed by a significant stint with Edinburgh, overcoming initial injury challenges to make a considerable impact. A brief tenure with Worcester Warriors ended abruptly in 2022, leading to his return to Edinburgh.

Internationally, Van der Merwe's eligibility for Scotland in 2020 saw him making an impact, contributing to Scotland's performances in various tournaments, including the Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup, with a try-scoring record.[vague]

Schoolboy rugby

Van der Merwe was born and grew up in George in the Western Cape province of South Africa. He attended and played rugby for Outeniqa High School [Hoërskool Outeniqua], earning several provincial colours by representing the SWD Eagles at youth tournaments. In 2011, he represented SWD [South Western Districts] at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week held in Queenstown, appearing in all three matches and scoring a try in their 25–8 victory over KwaZulu-Natal.[1]

The following year, he played for SWD at the premier schoolboy rugby tournament in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week. He scored four tries – two against the Limpopo Blue Bulls[2] and two against Western Province[3] – at the tournament held in Port Elizabeth. He was named in the South Africa Schools team at the conclusion of the tournament,[4] and made two starts for them in the Under-18 International Series, helping them to victories over France[5] and England.[6]

Still eligible for the Under-18s in 2013, Van der Merwe again played in all three of SWD's matches at the Craven Week held in Polokwane. He scored three tries – two against Eastern Province[7] and one in a victory over the Blue Bulls[8] – and was again included in the South African Schools team.[9] He scored a try in their 19–14 victory over England in their first match of the 2013 Under-18 International Series,[10] and followed that up with two tries in their next match against France.[11] He didn't score in their final match against Wales,[12][13] but still finished as the top try scorer in the competition.

He also played rugby sevens, where he represented South Africa.[14]

Professional rugby

2014–2016 : Youth rugby

After high school, Van der Merwe moved to Pretoria, where he joined the Blue Bulls' academy for the 2014 season.[15]

He returned to domestic action to play for the Blue Bulls U19 team in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He made twelve starts in the competition and scored a total of eight tries, the second-highest by a Blue Bulls player and joint-third overall in Group A of the competition.[16] After scoring a single try in matches against Sharks U19[17] and Western Province U19,[18] he scored two tries against the Leopards U19 in a 52–27 win.[19] Another try in their second meeting against Western Province[20] was followed by a hat-trick in a 46–24 victory over the Leopards in Potchefstroom.[21] The helped his side finish top of the log[22] and make it all the way to the final of the competition before losing to Western Province.[23] In addition to his appearance for the Under-19 team, he also played one match for the Blue Bulls U21 side, in a 24–10 victory over Free State U21.[24]

He had an operation at the start of 2015, which ruled him out of action for the majority of the season, also ruling him out of contention with a second consecutive Under 20 Championship.[25] He returned to action for the Blue Bulls U21s, making six starts in the Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring one try in their 43–10 victory over Eastern Province U21.[26]

At the start of 2016, he played Varsity Cup rugby with UP Tuks, starting all eight of their matches. He scored tries in defeats to NWU Pukke[27] and UFS Shimlas[28] and scored two tries in their 68–25 victory over CUT Ixias.[29] In their final match of the regular season against bottom team UCT Ikey Tigers, Van der Merwe scored six of his side's eleven tries in a 100–25 victory.[30] With bonus points in effect for scoring tries that originated outside the final 22, Van der Merwe's point haul in the match was a massive 48 points and he finished the competition as the top try scorer[31] and the fourth-highest points scorer.

After the Varsity Cup, Van der Merwe made his domestic first class debut for the Blue Bulls in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series. He made an appearance as a replacement in a 14–19 defeat to the Eastern Province Kings,[32] and made his first start a week later against the Pumas,[33] which would be his final action in a Blue Bulls shirt.

2016–2017 : Montpellier

He moved to France in July 2016 to join Top 14 side Montpellier, signing a youth contract with the team.[34] He made his debut for the senior team in their Round 15 match against Pau, replacing Joffrey Michel.[35] A recurring hip injury, and difficulties adjusting to the culture and language, meant he gained little game time.[36]

2017–2021 : Edinburgh

Van der Merwe signed a two-year professional contract with Scottish Pro14 side Edinburgh ahead of the 2017-18 season.[37] He failed his medical due to a long-standing hip injury, but Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill signed him despite this.[38] The injury meant he missed half of his first season. However, his impact afterwards was strong. One area of improvement was seeking to get more involved in the game, from his wing position.[39]

2021–2022: Worcester Warriors

On 4 January 2021, it was announced that van der Merwe would move to England to sign for Worcester Warriors in the Premiership Rugby competition ahead of the 2021-22 season on a long-term deal.[40] Due to the club entering administration all Warriors players had their contracts terminated on 5 October 2022.[41]

2022–: Return to Edinburgh

Only hours after having his contract terminated at Worcester Warriors it was confirmed that van der Merwe would return to Edinburgh on a long-term deal.[42]

International career

South Africa under-20

van der Merwe was a late call-up to the South Africa Under-20 squad that participated at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand,[43] replacing Rohan Janse van Rensburg who picked up an injury in South Africa's 61–5 victory against Scotland in the opening round in Pool C.[44] Van der Merwe was an unused replacement for their 33–24 victory over hosts New Zealand in their second match,[45] but started their final pool match, a 21–8 victory over Samoa[46] to help the team finish top of their pool to progress to the semi-finals. He didn't feature in their 32–25 win over New Zealand at that stage,[47] but was named on the bench for the final against England and came on as a replacement in the second half, with South Africa losing 20–21[48] to finish as runners-up in the competition.

Scotland

van der Merwe became available for the Scottish international rugby team in Summer 2020. This was based on residency having then lived in Scotland for 3 years since he joined Edinburgh in 2017.[49] He made his international debut for Scotland against Georgia on 23 October 2020, scoring a try in the process.[50] [51] He doubled his test try-scoring tally on 14 November, touching down one of Scotland's four tries in Florence during victory over Italy.[52] then adding another in Dublin on 5 December.

Van Der Merwe scored the decisive try in Scotland's victory over England in the opening match of the 2021 Six Nations Championship.[53] The following month he scored a further two tries against Italy in a 52-10 victory.[54] This was followed by another brace in the final match of the championship in Paris, the second coming in 84th minute of play to secure a dramatic last-gasp win, Scotland's first in France since 1999.[55] This brought his tally to eight tries in his first ten test matches.

In 2023, Van Der Merwe was selected in Scotland's 33 player squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.[56] However they exited the tournament in the Pool stage, failing to beat both Ireland and South Africa.

Van Der Merwe was then selected for the 2024 Six Nations Scotland squad. He scored his first Scotland hat-trick against England, after scoring two in the opener against Wales.

Appearances and tries by national team and year
National team Year Apps Tries
Scotland 2020 5 3
2021 8 6
2022 10 5
2023 11 7
2024 5 5
Total 39 26
Appearances and tries by national team and year
National team Year Apps Tries
British & Irish Lions 2021 3 0
Total 3 0

International tries

As of 4 February 2024.[57]
Try Opposing team Venue Competition Date Result
1  Georgia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2020 Autumn Internationals 23 October 2020 48 - 7
2  Italy Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence 2020 Autumn Nations Cup 14 November 2020 17 - 28
3  Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 5 December 2020 31 - 16
4  England Twickenham Stadium, London 2021 Six Nations 6 February 2021 6 - 11
5  Italy Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 20 March 2021 52 - 10
6
7  France Stade de France, Paris 26 March 2021 23 - 27
8
9  Japan Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2021 Autumn Internationals 20 November 2021 29 - 20
10  France Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2022 Six Nations 26 February 2022 17 - 36
11  Argentina Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero 2022 Summer Internationals 16 July 2022 34 - 31
12
13  Fiji Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 2022 Autumn Internationals 5 November 2022 28 - 12
14  Argentina Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 19 November 2022 52 - 29
15  England Twickenham Stadium, London 2023 Six Nations 4 February 2023 23 - 29
16
17  Italy Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 18 March 2023 26 - 14
18  France Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Étienne 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 12 August 2023 30 - 27
19  Georgia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 26 August 2023 33 - 6
20
21  Tonga Stade de Nice, Nice 2023 Rugby World Cup 24 September 2023 45 - 17
22  Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2024 Six Nations 3 February 2024 26 - 27
23
24  England Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 24 February 2024 30 - 21
25
26

British & Irish Lions

In May 2021, Van Der Merwe was selected in the 37-man squad for the British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[58]

He took to the field in the opening warmup match against Japan at Murrayfield, scoring a try in the process and becoming Lion #841.[59] After performing well in the tour's warm up games, scoring five tries in four appearances, he was selected in the starting line up for the first Test and played 70 minutes as the Lions won 17-22.[60][61] He subsequently played the full 80 minutes of both the second and third Tests as well.[62][63]

Personal life

Van de Merwe and his wife Nika married in 2023.[64][65]

Van der Merwe is the younger brother of Akker van der Merwe, also a professional rugby union player who plays at hooker.[66]

References

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  2. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – SWD 46–18 Limpopo". South African Rugby Union. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  3. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – WP 39–33 SWD". South African Rugby Union. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
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  35. ^ "Pau vs Montpellier". rugbyrama (in French). 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  36. ^ "Exclusive interview: Duhan van der Merwe ready for Scotland call-up". www.sarugbymag.co.za. 12 July 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
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  39. ^ Scott, Steve (15 January 2020). "Duhan Van der Merwe shows his gratitude to Edinburgh with new deal". The Courier. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
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  41. ^ "Worcester player and staff contracts terminated after high court ruling | Worcester | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
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  49. ^ "DUHAN VAN DER MERWE" https://scottishrugby.org
  50. ^ @Scotlandteam (23 October 2020). "🔄 Oli Kebble comes on for his..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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  57. ^ "Duhan van der Merwe". 4 February 2023.
  58. ^ "British and Irish Lions 2021: Sam Simmonds in 37-man squad but Billy Vunipola misses out". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  59. ^ "Player Numbers". British & Irish Lions.
  60. ^ "Jones to captain Lions in first Test". BBC Sport.
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  62. ^ "Relive South Africa v Lions second Test". BBC Sport. 30 July 2021.
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  64. ^ https://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby-union/emotional-scotland-hero-duhan-van-der-merwe-says-getting-married-revived-him-after-tough-times-and-relives-best-try-of-my-career-4014596
  65. ^ "Scots hunk to face Ireland married to stunning beauty who could be queen of WAGs". 5 October 2023.
  66. ^ "Duhan van der Merwe makes history in FNB Tuks colours". Varsity Cup. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
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