New contract for in-demand Scotland star is 'massive' for Edinburgh as multiple suitors turned down

Edinburgh Rugby head coach Sean Everitt admits keeping Duhan van der Merwe is "massive" for the club.

The 29-year-old Scotland winger has agreed a fresh contract with the capital side until the 2027 World Cup. Van der Merwe was in demand from a number of outfits in England, France and South Africa, and with his deal due to expire at the end of the season, Edinburgh have done well to tie him down for a further two campaigns.

Scotland's record try scorer with 30 scores, Van der Merwe is set to start for Edinburgh against Bayonne in Friday's Challenge Cup encounter at The Hive and Everitt has hailed the coup of persuading him to stay with them.

Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt (left) is delighted that Duhan van der Merwe is staying at the club for another three years. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group

"It's massive for the club," said Everitt. "We're trying to create continuity in certain positions. I think it's very important to Scottish Rugby. And he's a guy that probably needs to be managed going into the latter part of his career. And one way to do it is to keep him in Scotland and obviously monitor his load.

"For us he's extremely important. Him and Darcy [Graham, fellow winger] have been instrumental in our wins at home this year. And obviously being the top trial scorer in Scotland, we look at him to do the same for us.

"So, we're very excited for him. It wasn't easy trying to keep him. You know, he's done really well for Scotland and he's done well in the World Cup, so, he was a sought-after player, but we're very happy that he's chosen Edinburgh to be his home for the next two or three years at least."

Edinburgh will have needed to dig deep financially to keep the player and asked if keeping Van der Merwe will give him less flexibility on his budget, Everitt said: "Yes and no. As far as that's concerned, our squad is healthy. Obviously if we couldn't afford to keep doing it, we wouldn't have."