WATCH: Duhan van der Merwe haunts England again with a glorious hat-trick

Jared Wright
Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe (front) celebrates scoring his side's third try of the game with team-mates during the Guinness Six Nations match at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh.

Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe (front) celebrates scoring his side's third try of the game with team-mates during the Guinness Six Nations match at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh.

Duhan van der Merwe just loves scoring against England and touched down for a memorable hat-trick at Murrayfield in round three of the Six Nations on Saturday.

The South African-born speedster has a knack for dotting down against the Auld Enemy, having scored twice in the 29-23 victory over England at Twickenham last year.

He is also now only one try shy of equalling Stuart Hogg’s record for the most tries scored for Scotland, with the ex-full-back dotting down 27 times in his 100 caps.

Van der Merwe has a much more impressive strike rate as he has now crossed the whitewash 26 times in 37 Tests.

Duhan van der Merwe’s hat-trick v England

England raced into the lead through a stunning set move from a scrum, which saw George Furbank sprint over the try-line.

After going 10-0 down after a George Ford penalty, Scotland finally opened up their account through their prolific winger.

Sione Tuipulotu kickstarted the attack as he sent Huw Jones flying through a gap with a lovely short ball as the Huwipulotu continued to produce for the Scots.

Jones sped into the England 22, and while two England tacklers chopped him down, he was still able to offload the ball from the deck to Van der Merwe, who had sprinted up in support. He still had plenty to do when he received the ball as he breezed past George Furbank, threw a dummy and dived over the line despite two defenders attempting to make a last-ditch tackle.

Van der Merwe would get Scotland into the lead for the first time as he punished a handling error from Furbank.

Jones was again on hand to assist the winger as he scooped up the loose ball and offloaded to his winger who received the ball inside his own half. He went on to outpace Ben Earl on the outside and did the same to Henry Slade.

No one was stopping him from there as he dotted down in the corner for his second score of the match and moved within two tries of Hogg.

He completed his hat-trick after the break after a deft Finn Russell kick sat up perfectly for him as he gathered it inside the opposition’s 22 and he had an easy run in for the score.

He would be yellow-carded in the latter stages but would cap off a memorable night as he became the first player to score a Six Nations hat-trick against England as he was named as the Player of the Match.

Scotland would go on to secure a 30-21 victory as they retained the Calcutta Cup and claimed a fourth straight win over England.

 

Scotland’s leading try scorers

27 – Stuart Hogg (2012–2023)
26 – Duhan van der Merwe (2020–present)
24 – Ian Smith (1924–1933)
24 – Tony Stanger (1989–1998)
24 – Darcy Graham (2018–present)

READ MORE: Duhan van der Merwe hat-trick fires Scotland to Calcutta Cup glory against England in Six Nations

Facts & Stats Duhan van der Merwe

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