Duhan van der Merwe fitness status ahead of Edinburgh play-off and Lions tour revealed

Edinburgh Rugby are hoping that Duhan van der Merwe will be fit for the United Rugby Championship play-offs after they booked their place in the last eight with a 47-17 win over Ulster on Friday evening.

The powerful winger has not played since March 28 when he injured his ankle against the Dragons and had to come off after 11 minutes.

Van der Merwe, 29, has since been named in the British & Irish Lions squad for the summer tour of Australia but Edinburgh would love to have him available for their play-off quarter-final on May 31.

Duhan van der Merwe during an Edinburgh Rugby training session at the Hive Stadium last week. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group

“We're hoping so,” said Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach. “He's running and he's doing really well. So we're definitely hoping that we have Duhan for the quarter-final.”

In van der Merwe’s absence, it was another talismanic winger who played a large part in Edinburgh’s victory at Hive Stadium. Darcy Graham, who trails van der Merwe by one in the Scotland all-time try-scorers list, helped himself to a hat-trick against Ulster as Edinburgh secured the bonus-point win to guarantee their place in the play-offs for the first time in three years.

Graham was a surprise omission from Andy Farrell’s Lions squad when it was named last week but Everitt said the Hawick man had been dealing with the disappointment and also overcame a heel issue to play on Friday.

“He's been struggling with a heel over the last couple of weeks, but this week he was feeling much better, and you could see it in his performance,” said Everitt. “He's just got to keep on performing and make it really difficult for the Lions to leave him out should injuries occur.

“He's obviously disappointed - it's everyone's dream to play for the Lions. It's always going to be difficult when you've got four countries to choose from, and selection sometimes can be subjective. It's not always going to be factual, so we can't criticise the selection. Andy Farrell's an amazing coach and a really good selector, and he's done wonders with Ireland, so Darcy must just keep on going.”

Darcy Graham stretches over the line. | SNS Group

Edinburgh’s squad will now have a few days off before, in the words of stand-in skipper Magnus Bradbury, it’s time to “tape the body up and go again”.

Bradbury was immense on Friday, scoring two tries in an all-action display which encapsulated the improvement in Edinburgh’s game in the second half of the campaign. The No 8 reckoned it was the team’s most complete performance of the season.

“We talked about a fast start - last game at home, great night for it. But contrary to what we’ve done before, we kept the foot on the throat,” said Bradbury. “We delivered on it. The boys did their jobs, we all did our jobs, and that’s what happens when you get it right.

“We've had great games here before and great games away, but there's always been that 10-minute lapse. We didn't have that on Friday. We've challenged each other on that and we've been challenged by our coaches and we've delivered.”

Bradbury has spoken before about a turning point in mid-season when the players stood up and took more responsibility but he refuted the suggestion that Edinburgh had been under-performing in the last couple of years.

Magnus Bradbury scored two tries for Edinburgh in the win over Ulster on Friday. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group) | SNS Group

“I think any club when you get a new coach, you have to go through that transition period. So under-performance is the wrong word for me,” said Bradbury.

“We've had a huge mentality shift over the Six Nations. It's about putting that onto the pitch next game and then not to look too far ahead, but it's exciting to see what we can do with a decent pre-season as well. Build on the strengths we've built through mid-season and see where that takes us.”

It’s been a roller coaster campaign for Edinburgh who lost their opening three games but finished strongly, with bonus-point victories over Connacht and Ulster. The 10 points gathered in their final two league matches catapulted them into the top eight as Cardiff lost to the Stormers in South Africa on Friday night.

Combined with a run to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, Bradbury said recent weeks had taken their toll both physically and mentally on the squad. It was time now to “rest up, saunas, keep off the beers” and focus on the quarter-final.

“It’s not a shot to nothing,” he insisted. “I think it’s where we want to be as a team, and we know we can beat any team if we’re on it.”