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'He is an incredible player with ball in hand' - 6'4, 106kg Edinburgh wing is ready for Test rugby
Despite a brace of tries of his own, Edinburgh halfback Nic Groom praised his team-mate Duhan van der Merwe and said he was “good enough” for test rugby. The young winger had a massive run down the touchline, carrying the ball in one hand and beating two defenders before looping it inside to Groom for the halfback’s second try in Edinburgh’s PRO14 win over rivals Glasgow Warriors on Saturday night.
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Van der Merwe (6’4, 106kg) is the brother of Springbok hooker Akker, who plays for Sale Sharks in the English Premiership division, and has qualified by residency for Scotland, and if Groom has anything to do with it, he believes Van der Merwe will make an easy transition to test rugby.
“I owe Duhan a lot of beers. He put me over once or twice. I’ve been waiting, he is an incredible player with ball in hand and my philosophy is that if I just remain close to him, I’ll be in the right place,” he laughed after the game.
Asked if he thought Van der Merwe was international quality, it wasn’t even a flash before Groom affirmed this.
“I think so, I don’t think many people will argue with that. His form has proved that and think he has improved immensely over the season. He has added a lot to his game.”
Groom also had praise for his halfback partner, former Lions utility back Jaco van der Walt, who claimed the man of the match award at flyhalf with 15 points on the night.
“Jaco looked really good, he has really stepped up running the attack. We will keep on working as 9s and 10s to keep the team on the front foot. Obviously now you get a lot more lineouts because of the penalties and kicking for touch. That’s when the cogs start turning, we’ve had three lineouts here and where do we go from here.
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“How do we vary it and he has managed it very well.”
Groom was delighted with the victory, and claiming the 1872 Cup and securing Edinburgh’s place in the semifinals of the PRO14.
“I always thought we would come through, we would have the edge, but it is good how we stuck to our guns. We’ve put a premium on how we train, so it was good to get the win. It’s the first bit of silverware for us this year.”
But he did understand some of the frustration about the high penalty count, although he believed it was simply teething problems for the return to play.
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“The first half was a bit tricky. I’ve never really played a game against guys like this that hasn’t been serious. I haven’t quite wrapped my head around it yet. You could see a lot of penalties, and judging from some of the previous games that have been played, that was to be expected. It was tough to get going and tough to build phases and when we did hold the ball, we looked alright and it gave us confidence.
“If you’ve seen the previous rugby played, the penalty count has been massive. We expected the penalties, and we tried hard to be disciplined. There are different focus laws for the refs and there are different breakdown laws, so it would always take a bit of time to get used to the change. I think it is what we expected it to be.”
The two sides clash again on Friday night in the return PRO14 fixture, before the playoff rounds the following week.
Brendan Nel/PRO14
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments