The DHL Stormers are preparing for Duhan van der Merwe to make his return to a wounded Edinburgh in the final match of the three-week tour on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
Van der Merwe was a late withdrawal from Edinburgh’s team to face the Lions in Johannesburg, as the George-born, Scotland wing sat out the 55-21 loss due to an unspecified injury.
The 29-year-old has caused plenty of problems for European sides, but curiously has rarely been an issue for South African defences. To date, he has never scored against the Springboks and in the Vodacom URC, has only one try against the Vodacom Bulls last November.
While there are question marks over Van der Merwe’s availability, DHL Stormers defence coach Norman Laker said on Monday that they are preparing for Edinburgh to be boosted by the return of their giant wing for Saturday’s clash.
“We will plan for every single quality player in the Edinburgh squad. If Duhan isn’t in the team for Saturday, then so be it. They still have Darcy Graham who is a phenomenal winger. We have to be at our best,” Laker said.
“I don’t know why Duhan didn’t play against the Lions. Maybe he was injured or he went to George to visit his family. I’m not sure why he didn’t play, but we will prepare as if he is on the left wing.
“Duhan is a quality rugby player,” Laker added. “I was involved in the SA U20 side when he was there. He’s a strong ball carrier, has a mean hand off and is quite quick as well. Scotland use him as one of their key gamebreakers and it’s similar at Edinburgh. He gets the ball and gets them go-forward and momentum, so they can get on top of teams.”
The DHL Stormers are looking to finish their three-week tour on a high, after opening their wins account for the season with a bonus-point 36-5 victory over Zebre in Parma.
A defensive improvement from the season-opening defeat to Ospreys in Bridgend saw the Stormers keep their opponents scoreless until the last five minutes of the match. A moment of individual brilliance from Simone Gesi was all that prevented Laker from having to bring donuts to work for the Stormers whitewashing their opponents.
“I would have happily bought donuts for the guys. To keep Zebre scoreless for 76 minutes and 35 seconds was something special, especially after conceding four tries in the first game, which was quite hurtful for us as a squad,” Laker said.
“We rectified a few things in the week and implemented that on Saturday evening. Zebre are a very good attacking side. Their head coach has a lot of experience and has a certain way he wants to play the game. They want to keep ball in hand and we felt we could apply pressure on them with that. We would have to move up quickly on defence or else we would concede tries like what happened to Munster the week before.”
Under former Sharks head coach Sean Everitt, who recruited former Griquas coach Scott Matthie to his staff this season, Edinburgh have started the campaign with three losses in a row.
However, with the Scottish returning from a tough tour of South Africa, Laker is expecting a different prospect at the Hive Stadium.
“We have played against them quite a few times, including the quarter-finals in the first year in Cape Town,” Laker said. “They are a quality outfit. Even though they have three losses on the trot, in this competition there are no weak teams. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day.
“Edinburgh have a quality coaching team. I know Sean Everitt and Scott Matthie quite well. Pierre Schoeman and Duhan played for the SA U20s when I was there. They are a great team. While they haven’t clicked at the moment, they can on Saturday and it will be a different game.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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