Gregor Townsend Addresses Van der Merwe’s Form and Discusses Scotland Squad Choices

Gregor Townsend, Scotland’s head coach, offered a defense of winger Duhan van der Merwe following recent scrutiny of the player’s performances for Edinburgh. Townsend also expressed enthusiasm for bringing Van der Merwe and Darcy Graham together again at the Test level. The 29-year-old winger, who holds the record as Scotland’s leading try-scorer with 28 tries in 41 appearances, has reportedly found it challenging to consistently display his exceptional Test-level form in the United Rugby Championship. “We love what Duhan does in training,” Townsend stated, having chosen Van der Merwe for the initial match of Scotland’s Autumn Nations series against Fiji. He continued, “He’s one of the hardest-working players. I can only comment on what he’s doing with us, and he’s able to thrive in the bigger occasions. That’s a real compliment to him as a person, but he also knows that scoring tries isn’t everything.” The South Africa-born player is set to feature in the starting back-three, playing alongside Darcy Graham, who is making his return to the Scotland squad for the first time since the 2023 World Cup. “He’s excited,” Townsend commented regarding Graham. “That last game he played as well against Cardiff, he got a number of touches on the ball. It’s probably taken him a few games to grow into that form, which is understandable, but he’s trained really well this week.” Townsend further expressed optimism about the back three combination, stating, “We’re excited about the back three. Duhan’s obviously played a lot of very good Test matches for us and scored a number of tries. Then you’ve got Kyle Rowe, who’s in excellent form. “He is a very intelligent rugby player, he runs really good lines, he brings others into the game, but he’s been showing over the last few weeks that he’s a brilliant finisher too.” In other team news, tighthead prop D’Arcy Rae is poised to potentially earn only his second international cap, a significant milestone occurring more than five years after his debut against Ireland during the 2019 Six Nations. “I’m so pleased for D’Arcy to win his second cap if he gets off the bench this weekend,” Townsend additionally remarked. “He’s been on form this year. When the scrum’s gone well with Edinburgh, D’Arcy’s been at the heart of that.” A starting position has also been allocated to Adam Hastings, whose previous start at Murrayfield was against Fiji during the autumn Tests two years prior. “He’s been really good,” the head coach commented. “He’s not had probably the minutes he would like, and that’s partly because of injury. The way Glasgow play, you’re seeing a lot more of Adam making decisions in attack, whether it’s the area to attack with ball in hand or use a kicking game. “I believe the competition between him and Tom [Jordan] are bringing the best out of each other, so they’re a very good complement for us.”