Duhan van der Merwe’s propensity for the spectacular saw him land the killer blow against Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield – but the Edinburgh man was insistent that he “didn’t do loads of flashy things” in his side’s 19-14 win.

If scoring a stunning solo try off the back off a scorching 70-metre run to win the match for your team doesn’t constitute “flashy” it’s hard to know what does, but maybe such things are workaday to the Scotland winger. Anyone who was lucky enough to be at Twickenham to see his dazzling score against England in last season’s Six Nations knows what van der Merwe is capable of and his try on Saturday was another worthy addition to his highlights reel. Taking the ball in his own 22, he pinned back his ears and flew down the left wing before scoring in the corner. It was a wonderful moment and edged Edinburgh 16-14 ahead with nine minutes remaining of a match in which they had trailed for the most part.

If van der Merwe deserves the plaudits it would be wrong to overlook Darcy Graham’s part in the decisive moment. The Hawick man did ever so well to win a turnover against Scott Cummings before having the presence of mind to move the ball quickly to his fellow winger. “Cheers Darcy for making me sprint 70 metres!” joked van der Merwe later. “I guess the first 30-40 metres I was head down because I wasn’t very sure who was chasing me. Then I saw Gogs Horne coming over and I started slowing down and I thought he was going to catch me at one point because I was getting tired but I just managed to get in. I was happy with that one.”

Edinburgh winger and man-of-the-match Duhan van der Merwe races in for his second half try. (Photo: David Gibson/Fotosport/Shutterstock)

So he should be. Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh coach, had spoken beforehand about getting his two wingers into the game more. The pair hadn’t seen much of the ball in the first match between the sides at a wet and windy Scotstoun but it was a different story in the second leg at Murrayfield. Graham was busy and buzzy and also had a hand in Edinburgh’s first try, catching Glasgow flat footed with a quick tap penalty which allowed his team to move the ball swiftly out the line for Matt Currie to score.

Van der Merwe was equally effective and was named player of the match by former Scotland captain John Barclay who was on TV duties for Viaplay and felt the winger had had his best game for Edinburgh for some time. “I guess I didn’t do loads of flashy things,” van der Merwe said. “Chasing box kicks, defending, doing the dirty work – that’s why he probably thinks that. I felt I had a pretty solid game and I just really wanted to get the win for the club because it was much needed and now we can push on from here.

“I said to Ali Price that he owes me a pint because I played nine a couple of times off the base and it’s tough when you are a big man and you have to move like that. I was absolutely knackered. I don’t know if it’s training and playing on a 4G and then playing on a heavy field like this but my legs felt heavy. I haven’t been this tired in a very long time. I don’t know if I’ve got through a lot of work or not but I was absolutely blowing.”

Edinburgh and Glasgow will now take a well earned break before returning to action on January 13 with European matches against Gloucester and Exeter, respectively. For van der Merwe, it’s a chance to head home to South Africa for a few days and see in the New Year with his family. “I believe in putting in the hard work, then chasing the sun,” he said. “It’ll be the first time in seven years that I’ll be able to spend some time with my family over New Year. I managed to get an early flight. The taxi is picking me up at three o’clock in the morning and I’ll be landing at 10 o’clock so I can spend New Year with the family which I believe is important.”

Edinburgh's Duhan van der Merwe, second from left, celebrates his try with team-mates Matt Currie, Darcy Graham and Mark Bennett. (Photo by Simon Wootton / SNS Group)

The win, which saw Ben Healy land three penalties, lifted Edinburgh up to fourth in the United Rugby Championship and closed the gap on third-placed Glasgow to five points at the halfway stage of the regular season, with both clubs having won six and lost three. It was the Warriors who left Murrayfield with the 1872 Cup, despite the defeat. Their 22-10 win in the first leg meant they prevailed 36-29 on aggregate to retain the inter-city trophy in front of 37,904 supporters, a record attendance for an Edinburgh home game.

Glasgow, who scored tries through Johnny Matthews and Stafford McDowall, both of which were converted by George Horne, felt they had done enough to win the match. “We were leading basically the whole game, and definitely, we thought we had it, and we just had to push through. Then they scored the try from their own 22,” reflected Henco Venter, the Warriors back-rower.

Unlike compatriot van der Merwe, Venter will not be heading home to South Africa during the mid-season mini-break. “No, I’m a Glasgow Weegie now, so I’m staying,” he said. “I may go to St Andrews this week and go sightseeing, take in Scotland. There’s so much to see. Every small town – I’ll try to see as much as I can. We are sheep farmers, so when I just drive outside Glasgow it feels like home, basically. And I’ll eat as much haggis as I can.”

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