WATCH: Duhan van der Merwe cops bizarre penalty following ‘push’ on South African referee
Duhan van der Merew copped a bizarre penalty in Edinburgh's URC clash with Ospreys this weekend.
Scotland and Edinburgh winger Duhan van der Merwe conceded a bizarre penalty in his side’s clash with Ospreys over the weekend, as he was adjudged to have purposefully pushed referee Griffin Colby.
Edinburgh led 10-7 at the time of the incident, but they couldn’t hold onto that lead as the Welsh region claimed a solid 22-13 win at home.
Duhan van der Merwe concedes strange penalty in URC clash
The incident occurred during the first-half of a hotly contested match, as Ross Thompson sent up a high kick for the British and Irish Lion to chase.
With the Scotland star’s path to the ball blocked by Edinburgh teammate D’Arcy Rae, Van der Merwe collided with the referee, who was standing next to Rae at the time.
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Following a break in play, the TMO highlighted the issue back to Colby, who then called the winger over to say Van der Merwe “deliberately pushed him out the way”.
Interesting penalty in Ospreys vs Edinburgh yesterday
byu/stvb95 inrugbyunion
The commentators also joked about it being a “red card for Van der Merwe” when he was called over to speak to the referee but were later left confused by the awarding of a penalty.
Fans reaction
It also caused a stir on social media, with fans voicing their disagreement with the decision to award a penalty.
“The ref’s argument of he has to be somewhere on the pitch and VDM should be aware of where that is, is rubbish,” one Reddit user posted. Another added: “Ridiculous call. Compensating for a bruised ego. Either move and accept it was an accident or it’s a straight red no middle ground.”
Some also felt if it was a penalty at all, then Van der Merwe should have copped a card for it: “That’s either a card or play on. Can’t be otherwise,” one user posted. “Garbage. If that was a penalty, it would also be a red card,” another added.