Prop hits out at the notion that Duhan van der ‘Murder’ wouldn’t make the Springboks

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Guinness Six Nations match Scotland vs England George Turner celebrates with Duhan van der Merwe of Scotland after his 2nd try,

Guinness Six Nations match Scotland vs England George Turner celebrates with Duhan van der Merwe of Scotland after his 2nd try.

Bristol Bears prop Max Lahiff believes that the notion that Duhan van der Merwe would not make the Springboks team is “nonsensical rubbish”.

His comments come off the back of Van der Merwe’s breathtaking performance in the Calcutta Cup clash with England.

The destructive winger ran in three tries in the Six Nations clash as Scotland cruised to a 30-21 win over England at Murrayfield.

The South African-born speedster represented the country of his birth at U20 level back in 2014 before heading to France to join Top 14 club Montpellier.

In 2017, he signed for Edinburgh, and once he became eligible through residence, he made his Test debut for Scotland in 2020.

“We are witnessing one of the great wingers”

He has been a star for Scotland ever since, and on Saturday, his hat-trick saw him go within one try of Stuart Hogg’s all-time try-scoring record.

Despite his success, many Springboks fans believe that he would still not make the current squad due to the embarrassment of riches in the position, including Makazole Mapimpi, Cheslin Kolbe, Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

But Lahiff has slammed that opinion and believes that the likes of Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber would have found a way to fit him in the starting lineup.

“Duhan van der Merwe being naughty and horrible. Duhan van der Murder! All the poor pommies, he was untouchable,” Lahiff said in reaction to the winger’s performance against England on the Maul or Nothing podcast.

“He is Teflon; he is a freak show. We are witnessing one of the great wingers of the modern-day game, I think.

“You know South Africans, they talk about Kurt-Lee [Arendse] and Cheslin [Kolbe], and they are like, ‘Duhan wouldn’t make the team’ you are lying.

“That is nonsensical rubbish; he is like a Russian experiment. He looks like Ivan Drago plays like him. Horrible.”

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Fitting him into the Springboks squad

Former Scotland back-rower Ryan Wilson pondered whether Erasmus and the Boks were looking enviously on at van der Merwe’s performances.

“Do you genuinely reckon that South Africa and Rassie and those boys are looking at it going? Oh, what have we let go?” he queried.

And Lahiff replied: “I think they would a way to implement him in some destructive, nefarious way, absolutely. He’d be in there somehow.”

Wilson quipped, “They’d probably have him in the back-row.”

Van der Merwe could break the Scottish try-scoring record when Gregor Townsend’s charges head to Rome to take on Italy in the penultimate round of the 2024 Six Nations.

They complete their campaign against Grand Slam hopefuls, Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Super Saturday.

READ MORE: Why ex-Springbok’s son would ‘love’ to play for the All Blacks

Internationals Duhan van der Merwe