Edinburgh’s tackle-busting wing Duhan van der Merwe tops the statistics after a massive performance in the PRO14 after his side beat the Kings 61-13.
Van der Merwe, born in South Africa and brother of Springbok hooker Akker, has been a firm favourite in Scotland since he signed at Edinburgh, but his performances this season have been nothing short of breathtaking.
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In Round 10 alone, he beat eight defenders, equalling another South African in Jaco van der Walt as the top attacking option, while on overall statistics he features heavily as well.
This season alone Van der Merwe has beaten 45 defenders to top the log in that department, while he also has the most clean breaks (18) and the most metres made (599) in the championship.
At 24 years old, 1.93m tall and weighing in at 100kg, Van der Merwe has that rare combination of power and speed to help him bust tackles, while using his pace to mystify defences when it matters.
He also features prominently on the try-scoring table, with five tries this season – two behind Toyota Cheetahs fullback Rhyno Smith, who leads the table with seven.
Despite the Cheetahs’ slump in form, Smith is second on metres made this season behind Van der Merwe, with 504 to his credit and also trails in second place on the clean breaks stat, with 15 this season.
Zebre’s Giovanni Licata leads the number of carries with a massive 116 while former Springbok loose forward Uzair Cassiem is making quite a name for himself with 112 carries for Welsh side Scarletts. Edinburgh’s prop Pierre Schoeman is fifth with 93 carries.
The PRO14 takes a break this weekend with the European competitions taking centre stage, but Van der Merwe will be keenly watched when Edinburgh, now top their conference in PRO14, go searching for a win away against French side Bordeaux-Begles on Saturday.
Photo: @EdinburghRugby/Twitter
