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Someone made a massive spray-painted sign saying, 'Celtic, we're coming for you - Warrior Nation'. Stuff like that is special
DTH van der Merwe was about to hop on his scooter and zip off to his home just around the corner from Glasgow’s Scotstoun stadium when a frown of alarm spread across his face.
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It was five-year-old Nola van der Merwe’s first school sports day this week and her father has just been informed of the British tradition of a “dads’ race” at such gatherings. As an international rugby player – a winger, no less – the Canadian will be the field’s white-hot favourite.
Van der Merwe has a PRO14 final date with the defending champions on Saturday, but he seemed more anxious about the prospect of dashing against a bunch of middle-aged locals than anything Leinster’s James Lowe, Jordan Larmour or Kearney brothers can throw at him on the weekend.
“One, what if I get injured? And two, what if I don’t win?!”
Getting smoked in the dads’ race would be, as they say in Glasgow, a “rid neck”, but family time is precious, and van der Merwe has seen a lot more of Nola and her two younger siblings than anticipated this year.
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These past three months have been hard, among the bleakest and most mentally trying he has faced in a decade as a professional. In February, he was told his season was over. Torn shoulder cartilage. Torn biceps tendon. Oh, and while you’re out, we’ll fix your double hernia. Rugby is a brutal old business.
The physical aches and tedium of rehab he could handle, but the emotional strain? That was grim. His purpose had evaporated overnight. In short, he didn’t know what to do with himself. “I came in to the stadium a few days after my hernia surgery a bit lost, I guess,” he told RugbyPass.
“You’re in a lot of pain at home. The coaches were like, ‘What are you doing? Go home, stay away.’ But it’s just normal to come in to the stadium.”
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Dave Rennie, the Glasgow coach, saw van der Merwe listless and flailing and sent him on holiday. Off the family went to Mexico, a fortnight of sun and memory-making where he found salvation in the strength of his wife. Gillian van der Merwe is a colossus of the Warriors social scene as well as a keen 5km runner.
“It’s going to sound a bit cheesy, but I was inspired by my wife and her running,” van der Merwe said. “We got to the hotel and it had awesome gym facilities, and every day we did something in the gym. She would go first for her run, then we would switch. It was a teamwork thing.
“It just switched something in my mind. I was sitting there watching two of our games on my phone and it just gave me the itch of wanting to be back. I started feeling better and stronger and said, ‘Let’s give this a go’.”
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He made it back a month ahead of schedule, his return coming in last Friday’s semi-final savaging of Ulster. How wonderful it felt. Van der Merwe knows he is in the autumn of his career. He is 33, this was his fifth shoulder operation, and his next chapter as a firefighter cannot be kept on the back burner forever.
But at Glasgow, he sees a team capable of greatness. Every day he was out, the fear that he would watch the culmination of all its toil from the stands gnawed at him.
“Even with my little break, it was tough at home some days. It takes a toll on the family, and that’s when you know you need to change something,” he said. “Dave gets that, he sees when someone’s going through a tough time and gives them a bit of a break.
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My #1 support, and my #1 motivation!!! Thank you @gillianvdm Nola, Lochie and Harlow!
“I’m not going to lie, I don’t have all the answers, I struggle. I’ve got my own demons I had to fight every week when I was injured.
“It did play on my mind, thinking about the potential this team has. It’s an unbelievable feeling to win a trophy, and honestly, it’s more about inspiring the younger people, especially my younger team-mates.
“Some of these guys have played a long time and never won anything. It’s such an amazing feeling and you get addicted to it. The sooner our young squad get that taste, the better it will be for us in the league and the Champions Cup.”
Glasgow’s great PRO12 coronation of 2015 remains the finest hour and the only title in the history of professional club rugby in Scotland. Gregor Townsend was coach and van der Merwe was at its core. He thundered home for the decisive semi-final score against Ulster at a packed and cacophonous Scotstoun. And he blasted on to Leone Nakarawa’s back-hander to run in one of four tries in the Belfast battering of Munster.
Nakarawa was a phenomenon that day, delivering the sort of cosmic rugby only he can. Everything the big Fijian touched turned to gold. Every pass he threw, no matter how mobbed by defenders or how contorted his body, hit its target.
“The comment that sticks out is Gregor telling Leone before the game, ‘This is finals rugby, don’t off-load the ball, just carry hard and forget about the off-loads’. And Leone off-loaded straight away, Rob Harley scored then I scored off his off-loads,” said van der Merwe.
Thanks guys!
Give these guys a follow and help us spread the word of #MentalHealthAwareness! #TacklingTheStigma together! https://t.co/eitjXTesio— DTH van der Merwe (@DTHVDM) March 14, 2019
“We destroyed the inside of the changing room afterwards but then we cleaned it up. We were going to fly home that night but our flight was cancelled. There was some cafe in the airport but it was shut and we had no food, only a few beers left.
“There were some crisps on the outside, so we just took the crisps and left them a tenner behind the counter.
“I remember Dougie Hall sitting with the trophy, Pete Horne playing music on his little ghetto-blaster thing. And then bringing the trophy back to Glasgow the next morning – that was a special time, signing off for Al Kellock, Dougie, guys who had been here a long time. Oh yeah, and I left as well.”
.@scarlets_rugby are surely going to win a @PRO12rugby title now!
? DTH Van Der Merwe scores
? @BBCTwo Wales
? https://t.co/CVV6uHVkbL pic.twitter.com/MJuy383li6
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) May 27, 2017
After six years in the city, van der Merwe was ready to chase a fresh stimulus. He joined Scarlets and won a title there too before heading for Newcastle where, for the first time in his career, he wasn’t getting picked and there was nothing he could do about it.
“It was months of playing three games, not getting selected, being told you’re doing everything right but there are guys ahead of you,” he explained. “I was so used to always playing week in, week out, Glasgow, Scarlets, then all of a sudden, I’m not selected. I’m the bin juice guy, the guy holding the pads.
“It’s tough, but it probably grounds you a little bit, makes you see the other important sides of the game, helping the team prepare, and then when you do get the opportunity to move to another club and play, you appreciate how much it means to you to play the game.”
Eight months into this torrid venture came the chance to return to Glasgow, an unexpected homecoming of sorts for the family. Van der Merwe is Warriors’ record try-scorer. His influence in the club’s growth from also-rans to heavyweights has been immense.
“Glasgow is where my career started and it’s probably where my career will end,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in thinking that I had something to do with the growth of Glasgow. Coming from where we were at Firhill, training at Whitecraigs in the mud-pit, to where we are now, the attention to detail we have is amazing.
“We’re getting rewarded with sold-out stadiums, fans pretty much demanding the club and the city council to get us a bigger stadium, because Glasgow Warriors and the community deserve it.
“If you think back to 2009, nobody would recognise any of the players in the street. Not that we’re celebrities now, but people know who we are, and we’re involved in the community in different aspects of the game and in businesses.”
This year, the PRO14 final is at Celtic Park in the city’s notoriously hard east end. The huge emerald bowl has witnessed some of Scottish football’s greatest days. Like much of Glasgow, the round ball is king here, but for one day, rugby will reign. These are the competition’s two premier teams and the backdrop to their contest will be dazzling.
“When it came out that the final was at Celtic Park, that’s been a massive driving force to us performing this season,” added van der Merwe.
“It’s about us enjoying our rugby, having smiles on our faces, celebrating the small victories – scrums, lineouts, turnovers, defence, attack. Keep celebrating those things and that’s how we’re going to do it.
? WATCH | If you're going to the Guinness PRO14 Final at Celtic Park on Saturday here is some important information for you. pic.twitter.com/chzQS94fLj
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) May 23, 2019
“I don’t think (changing style in a final) is a temptation – I just think it’s what happens. People are afraid to make mistakes and they change their game plan, maybe make it more about trying to nullify the opposition and not on what got them there with the 22 games before.
“After the semi-final, if you drove past Victoria Park, someone had made a massive spray-painted sign saying, ‘Celtic, we’re coming for you – Warrior Nation’. Stuff like that, it’s just special.”
Canada is home, but it’s here in Glasgow where the van der Merwes have flourished. Come Saturday night, the hope is for two more trophies to add to the collection. One, a PRO14 winner’s medal. The other? Gold in the dads’ schools race.
WATCH: The behind the scenes RugbyPass documentary on the 2018 Guinness PRO14 final
Comments on RugbyPass
What happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
2 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
2 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
39 Go to comments