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United Rugby Championship

Edinburgh face 'tough' Duhan van der Merwe call as mini-crisis emerges before Bulls

By Josh Raisey

39 days ago

Duhan van der Merwe of Scotland looks on following the Guinness Six Nations 2025 match between England and Scotland at Allianz Stadium on February 22, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe will miss Edinburgh’s United Rugby Championship quarter-final against the Bulls on Saturday, but his head coach Sean Everitt has assured he will be fit for the semi-finals, should they make it.

The British and Irish Lions wing has travelled to South Africa with his side despite being sidelined for two months with an ankle injury. However, his head coach believes he is still a “few days away” from being match-fit, but will be available for a potential semi-final against the Sharks in Durban.

Van der Merwe’s absence means the Edinburgh team remains largely the same from the one that triumphed over Ulster in the final round of the regular URC season, with only one change.

Centurion Jamie Ritchie returns to the starting XV for what could be his final Edinburgh appearance before he moves to Perpignan. He will replace Ben Muncaster, who has dropped to the bench.

Fixture

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With a hamstring injury keeping Grant Gilchrist out, and Glen Young staying home for the birth of his child, the club are facing a mini-crisis in the second-row department, with no cover on the bench. No.8 Magnus Bradbury will therefore shift into the engine room if required at Loftus Versfeld.

“We know the Bulls are always a massive physical threat, especially here at Loftus,” Everitt said.

“To compete, and to win, we will need to be at our absolute very best – that means bringing passion and intensity, but crucially, it also demands composure and clinical discipline for the full 80 minutes.

“We’ve been building momentum steadily throughout the season, and the players have worked incredibly hard to put ourselves in this position. There’s a real belief and confidence within the squad right now, and we’re in a good spot mentally and physically to tackle this challenge head-on.

“Winning a URC knockout match on the road would be a significant achievement for this club. It’s something we’ve been working towards, and the opportunity to make history is a powerful driver for us. We’ve got a fantastic group of players who are hungry for success, and we’re determined to put in a performance that reflects the ambition of Edinburgh Rugby.”

On van der Merwe’s status, he added: “Duhan has been back training with us here in Pretoria this week, and he’s feeling good. However, he’s probably still a few days away from being ready to return to full match action. We’re managing his return carefully to ensure he’s fully prepared when he does step back onto the field.

“It was always going to be a tough one, you know. We brought him along. There’s a possibility of a semi-final in Durban [versus the Sharks] so bringing him along made sense.

“It’s not that he couldn’t be on the bench, it’s just that he finished his return to play yesterday and with Harry Paterson and Darcy Graham and obviously Wes Goosen in really good form, it didn’t make sense to play him after just three training sessions on the field.

“We’d rather have a 100% fit Duhan next week. He’s come through the week well, so physically he’s good. Obviously, just lacking a bit of match fitness.

“He’ll be ready to go next week. It will give him a second opportunity on the field to prepare really well.”

Edinburgh XV
15. Wes Goosen
14. Darcy Graham
13. Matt Currie
12. James Lang
11. Harry Paterson
10. Ross Thompson
9. Ali Price
1. Pierre Schoeman
2. Ewan Ashman
3. D’arcy Rae
4. Marshall Sykes
5. Sam Skinner
6. Jamie Ritchie
7. Hamish Watson
8. Magnus Bradbury (c)

Replacements
16. Paddy Harrison
17. Boan Venter
18. Javan Sebastian
19. Liam McConnell
20. Ben Muncaster
21. Conor McAlpine
22. Ben Healy
23. Mark Bennett

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Comments

1 Comment

RedWarrior 39 days ago

Three hours to a major mouth watering URC clash between last years champs Glasgow and 2021/22 champs Stormers and no preview on this site.

A lot of us here are from SA/Sco/Wales and Ireland with a few Italian posters also.

Please do better RugbyPass!!!

Join free and tell us what you really think!

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Comments on RugbyPass

Brett McKay 23 minutes ago

Six selection questions for Joe Schmidt as Lions loom large

Fair to say you’ve offered a very different perspective Am, thanks for taking the time to outline as you have..

2 Go to comments

BA 25 minutes ago

Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

Perhaps moving forward run meters tackles rucks and so on relative to weight height age etc becomes the new metric for guiding player welfare ?

165 Go to comments

BA 33 minutes ago

Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

I was just praising Cam for all the sniping he has done all season and last and that Cortez could follow suit bit more especially considering he is really quick

165 Go to comments

Cantab 36 minutes ago

All Blacks front five power points to brighter times ahead

Absolutely. Need to actually walk the walk before the talk the talk. While there is always optimism existing problems need to be addressed before improvement can be achieved.

7 Go to comments

BA 37 minutes ago

Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

5 million watched Top 14 final 8 million ABs test LY how many will watch Boks France at end of year ?10 million?not saying you can compare to games downunder atm with times no French stars etc but def still shows a appetite for international rugby

165 Go to comments

GP 43 minutes ago

All Blacks front five power points to brighter times ahead

I agree with you. I think the “rose tinted glasses” are being worn in this article. Fletcher Newell is a machine in the scrums as the article says. Carrying on from what he did for the Crusaders against the Blues and Chiefs. But we need Tamaiti Williams back down the track and Scott Barrett is going to be missed while he is out. Scott is under appreciated by some.

7 Go to comments

BA 45 minutes ago

Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

What if the Lions tour ? What do they do then?And that seems likely at some point but maybe quite far away

165 Go to comments

NH 1 hour ago

All eyes on the Brumbies' power as Racing-bound Taniela Tupou's Lion dream fades

tbh I’d still have nella off the bench and just really try and simplify his game. Anchor the scrum (don’t need to win a penatly), make your tackles, pick and gos in 22 zone, and clean otherwise. But, he is somewhat the antithesis of the workrate player Schmidt likes and nongorr has been good in this regard this season (scrum wobbles aside). Curious to see what Schmidt does at 10, I think noah is a bigger loss than alot of people might give credit to. I thought the wallabies shape and decision making was largely quite good in the 1st half against fiji and I liked the diverse kicking. I personally have no confidence in donno or lynagh, they are just too green, but JOC seems on the outer. Very little game management present across the team. Need as much as we can get now from the 9, 12, 15 and even wings to help out whoever the 10 is. Guys like kellaway, white, wright, ikitau, hunter all the more important to take some load.

17 Go to comments

AM 1 hour ago

Six selection questions for Joe Schmidt as Lions loom large

Find this an odd one. AAA is a terrible scrummager and was shown up badly in the RwC and European games. He should not start. The front row should be Bell, Latu and Thor or Jordan U at hooker. Latu played well for La Rochelle and JU played well for MP. The French comp is the best in the world. Ainsley is a better scrummager than AAA and played well for Lyon. He should be on the bench. At loose Scott Sio played well for Exeter and is better than slipper. The young no 1 at the Tahs is also solid. Nongoor and Robertson are worse than AAA in the scrum and not international level.

Harry Wilson shouldn’t be in the squad. He cannot break tackles and has poor ball skills. Samu was great for UBB who won the European club championship. Back three should be Booby V, Tizano and Leota with Gleeson and Samu off the bench. McRight has not played well against bigger teams and gets blown off the ball. Utilise the wingers more for support play.

Starting locks should be frost and Skelton. Off the bench Amatosero and Williams or Philip. There is your balance point.

The biggest issue we have the back line is that wright has a poor kicking game and not as big a boot as the back 3 of the lions. He also makes a lot of mistakes. Wallabies should have developed hodge at 15 as that big boot of his takes a lot of pressure off. That is what is going to kill them.

2 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 1 hour ago

Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

If you applied your logic to country and not club, then you're on to something!

It’s not a big happy family. It's not south American soccer when you get scouted at 8 and join a club with lads you've grown up with. It was a pay cheque. And I suspected it wouldn't last long.

I did my bit, they did theirs. At times it was great fun. I got a Friday night at the Cardiff arms park which was my only bucket list. Not more than 1500 in attendance and we got pumped by 22 PTS but special memories.

The pitch was utter shyte though.

I mean this sincerely but the fans in the stands are often the more passionate. Professional players, to a degree, are conditioned to deal with losses. On to the next game. Pragmatism.

The players were starting to get too big so I don't miss the on field stuff and I've literally never held a ball since. I wouldn’t let either of my young cubs near a rugby ball at the moment as the game stands but I've never enjoyed watching the game more than now.

Two teams go to war but nobody dies. It's a lovely antidote to the confusing and overwhelming real world we live in. Some times your best is enough, some times it's not.

165 Go to comments

Shihan 2 hours ago

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Will Argentina recover the fifth place in the World ranking if they defeat England this coming Saturday on their second test match in the Province of San Juan?

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YeowNotEven 2 hours ago

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Andrew Nichols 2 hours ago

Taniela Tupou joins Lion as two of six internationals signed by Racing 92

Will quickly get a new name LeTubbalard.

1 Go to comments

JT 2 hours ago

Former All Blacks discuss possible changes ahead of second France Test

One big yawn…. Non performers keeps getting rewarded. Those who actually do perform and are exciting prospects get sidelined. Compare this attitude to the French, the springboks, England and even Australia and you get your answer as to why the ABs have stagnated.

4 Go to comments

takata 3 hours ago

Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

Sure a break is better than no break at all - but to use the same analogy as before, it’s like refilling a car with gas but not giving it a good service.

But, here, I’m just answering what it’s so hard for you to see, as you wrote above: “Overall, it is very hard to see what France is gaining in the player welfare equation. It is simply replacing one set of overworked players with another.”

And for me, the gain in the player welfare equation is certainly obvious and I wonder how you could have missed it. Or maybe you’re more a Polemist than a real Analyst?

The third Test is 19 July, round one of Top 14 2025-26 first weekend of September. Probably a month of pre-season in August with three warm-up games. Where is the off-season for players to recover properly?

In the NFL they have 7 months.

Yeah right!

The NFL is also distributing contracts worth $210.000.000+ for 4 years… In Top 14, Dupont was paid a yearly €480.000 (brut) by Toulouse while F. Russell was offered £1.000.000 with Bath. Consequently, I really fail to see how anything NFL is relevant with rugby, but you already know that.

Beside, La Section Paloise already started its pre-season (today) and the number of warm-up games would range from 0 - 2 (mostly 1). For the bulk, after five weeks, the restart is next week as their last game was on 7 June. The break is shorter than 6 weeks for their staff and those players who were not involved in their last game.

Last season ranking. Club -> date restart (break weeks)

08. Pau (SP) -> 9 July (~ 4w)

00. Montauban (USM Sapiac) -> 14 July (> Pro D2)

07. La Rochelle (SR) -> 14 July (~ 5w)

12. Paris (SF) -> 15 July (~ 5w)

11. Lyon (LOU) -> 15 July (~ 5w)

10. Racing 92 -> 15 July (~ 5w)

13. Perpignan (USAP) -> 16 July (~ 5w)

09. Montpellier (MHR) -> 16 July (~ 5w)

06. Clermont (ASM) -> 21 July (~ 5w)

05. Castres (CO) -> 21 July (~ 5w)

04. Bayonne (AB) -> 28 July (~ 5w)

03. Toulon (RCT) -> 28 July (~ 5w)

02. Bordeaux (UBB) -> 6 August (~ 5w)

01. Toulouse (ST) -> 4-11 August (~ 5-6w)

If Attissogbe (from Pau) is also playing the 19 July test (very doubtful), he will be back from holliday on 1 September (6 weeks later). No matter what, he is going to miss several rounds of Top 14.

(…) three-Test series in NZ is not ‘friendly’. It is a serious opportunity to prove you can beat one of the best nations in history in their own backyard.

You can also repeat it a million time but it won’t change the fact that those summer tests are the lowest priority on the FFR agenda. It’s a shame, it’s not going to change - even if they rename the window something else, but it’s for good reasons in my humble opinion.

165 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 3 hours ago

Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

And yet no club affiliation. Tough to think of a more compelling reason to support a club than growing up beside them, being nurtured and coached by them and then being granted the honour of going on to represent them on the pitch, or don’t you think? And yet no, that’s not the case here. I wonder what went wrong…

165 Go to comments

Andrew Nichols 3 hours ago

Scott Robertson weighs in on Will Jordan's possible position switch

Sure but it wont happen. DMac is a vital.part of that team. I think Love is a fabulous footy player who will take Barretts place sooner rather than later and take over DMacs bench spot (covering 10/15 while DMac becomes the starting 10 again. That is what WILL happen. They wont drop DMac.

67 Go to comments

SadersMan 4 hours ago

Scott Robertson weighs in on Will Jordan's possible position switch

I’m not “proposing” anything. Follow the thread. SC proposed Reiko 11 Love 14 Jordan 15. I said for Love to be considered it's more likely to be on the bench for DMac. Pretty simple to follow??? Or not.