Duhan van der Merwe does not want to shake hands. It is not that the hulking Scotland winger is being rude \u2013 he is polite to a fault \u2013 but after a gruelling gym session the British & Irish Lion has blisters as big as golf balls. A fist bump \u2013 a touch daunting given the size of his biceps \u2013 must suffice.<\/p>\n
Van der Merwe\u2019s war wounds are the first indication that public perception about him can be misleading and there are many to follow in the ensuing half-hour. From an impassioned response to accusations he is a \u201cSpringJock\u201d, to discussing why he runs roughshod over England once a year<\/a>, Van der Merwe is illuminating company.<\/p>\n He is 6ft 4in and looks carved from Rustenburg granite. There is something cartoonish about the way he thunders past \u2013 or through \u2013 defenders and with gleaming blond hair he can list Johnny Bravo and Action Man as doppelgangers. Yet \u201cshow pony\u201d and \u201cflat-track bully\u201d are brushes he can be tarred with. \u201cI probably make my life a little bit more difficult by diving into the corners when I don\u2019t have to,\u201d he says with a chuckle. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s just getting that nice photo, that\u2019s why I dive.\u201d<\/p>\n He speaks with an unmistakable Afrikaans accent \u2013 arriving in Edinburgh in 2017 he struggled with his English to the extent he would get frustrated at his failure to grasp Scottish humour \u2013 so it makes sense to cut to the chase. He is often held up as a \u201cproject player\u201d, a junior Springbok who sought his fortune with a country less blessed with 17st wingers. In short, his Scottishness has been questioned. No matter, it seems, that five years on from making his debut \u2013 qualifying after three years\u2019 residency \u2013 Van der Merwe is Scotland\u2019s record try-scorer.<\/p>\n After being selected for his second Lions tour he was among the players born in the southern hemisphere whose place in the squad was questioned. Given the grief he was exposed to by opposition players and supporters four years ago in South Africa, there must be times when he feels he cannot win.<\/p>\n Van der Merwe wants to prove his fitness for the British & Irish Lions having played 11 minutes since the Six Nations. Photograph: Dan Sheridan\/Inpho\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n For those that question his allegiance to Scotland, Van der Merwe points to how he failed a medical when about to sign for Edinburgh, aged 22, in 2017.<\/p>\n He might have been cast aside, left in limbo, without a club and eight months of rehabilitation to manage alone, but Edinburgh, and Richard Cockerill, took a chance on him and he has repaid the faith in\u00a0spades.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I speak about it, I get really emotional because it\u2019s a country that has given me so much when I had nothing,\u201d says Van der Merwe, who arrived at Edinburgh after an ill-fated season with Montpellier. \u201cI had a failed medical and at that time it would have been easy for them to say: \u2018Look, you\u2019ve failed your medical \u2013 off you go.\u2019 But they looked after me.<\/p>\n \u201cI went over as a young boy and people don\u2019t understand how hard it is, leaving your family behind, leaving everything behind, going to a country where you don\u2019t know how things work.<\/p>\n \u201cInitially, my English wasn\u2019t good at all. It was tough. People don\u2019t understand how hard that transition is. It\u2019s not easy, no one has guaranteed me: \u2018Oh, Duhan, if you move over at the age of 22 you\u2019ll be Scotland\u2019s top try-scorer, you\u2019ll have played 49 games for Scotland, you\u2019ll go on a second Lions tour.\u2019 People don\u2019t see the amount of hard work and sacrifice you put in because I wouldn\u2019t be sitting here without it.\u201d<\/p>\n Van der Merwe hits his stride during a Lions training camp in Faro, Portugal. Photograph: Dan Sheridan\/INPHO\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Van der Merwe, now 30, had a mixed experience on tour four years ago. He was, understandably enough, appointed tour guide before being sacked within a week by his teammates because there was only so much of his native South Africa he could showcase when cooped in a Covid bubble. While stadiums were empty, it did not stop South African supporters having their say on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cI always knew they were going to get stuck into me,\u201d he says. \u201cThere were a lot of personal messages on social media towards me. I just dust it off because I know how hard I\u2019ve worked to get to where I am. You always have people on social media who are going to bring you down and slate you, but I\u2019ve got to a point in my career where it doesn\u2019t faze me at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Whereas Van der Merwe had appeared 10 times for Scotland when selected for the Lions four years ago, he is now a mainstay of Gregor Townsend\u2019s side, arguably their most potent weapon. An ankle injury in March has restricted him to 11 minutes of action since the Six Nations, however. He makes his comeback in the Lions\u2019 warm-up match against Argentina in Dublin on Friday, but it was an anxious wait to discover if he would make the squad, not least because it was announced alphabetically \u2013 forwards, then backs \u2013 and Van der Merwe\u2019s was the 37th<\/a> of the 38 names read out.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very stressful period for me. I guess you take yourself back: \u2018Have I done enough over the four-year cycle? Have I done enough over the Six Nations?\u2019 And then you start doubting yourself a wee bit. It was really tough because I felt like I couldn\u2019t do anything about it.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in shock for a full 24 hours because I just couldn\u2019t believe it because of the ankle. It really gives me a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n