Springboks Latest Scrum-Capped Wing Rips Edinburgh to Shreds in Sensational Injury Return
Springboks rookie Edwill van der Merwe was absolutely venomous on his injury return for the Lions who dismantled Edinburgh 55-21 in Johannesburg.
It was just over three months ago when the dynamic wing pulled on the Springboks jersey for the first time in a man-of-the-match performance against Wales.
Unfortunately for Van der Merwe injury would follow, leaving him sidelined until now but, had you not known that, it would have been impossible to guess.
Busy return
The wing tried to get his hands on the ball early on and notably busted through a tackle spectacularly. His fortune would only improve from there as the Lions launched a long-range attack which saw fellow Bok Morne van den Berg grubbering one through for his teammate. Van der Merwe collected the ball with his back to the line and casually stepped the Edinburgh defender, who quite frankly had no chance.
🤯 Two Springboks rookies combine for a Lions' worldie!pic.twitter.com/uucLzPxM5s
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) October 5, 2024
You would be forgiven for expecting that to be it for the first half but the scrum-capped superstar had other ideas. Van der Merwe received the ball on the left-hand tram just before half-time and, with two covering defenders well placed, the speedster chipped it ahead, gassed the Edinburgh duo and ran onto a perfect bounce to end a perfect half.
7️⃣ UNANSWERED FIRST HALF TRIES 🍿
The Emirates @LionsRugbyCo are feasting 🦁#LIOvEDI | #HitsDifferent | @Vodacom #URC | #HitsDifferent | #VodacomTurns30 pic.twitter.com/mcG3wzY8Au
— vodacomrugby (@VodacomRugga) October 5, 2024
All Boks shine
Van den Berg and Van der Merwe were not the only Springboks rookies who shone on the day with full-back Quan Horn – the player who opened the Lions account in the brutal Johannesburg sun before later assisting the final try of the day – impressing.
While the second half did not quite match the seven unanswered tries in the first it was still a statement performance to the rest of the competition, underling that there are no free points when visiting Johannesburg.
