Wales will face a wing who’s being mentioned in the same breath as Jonah Lomu when they take on Scotland in the round two Six Nations clash at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The 6ft 4in, 16st 7lb Duhan van der Merwe scored two tries and beat 11 defenders in a rampaging display against England at Twickenham, earning himself the man-of-the-match award in the process as the Scots pulled off a 29-23 win.
One of his touchdowns prompted Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend to bring the late, great Lomu into the conversation as van der Merwe stormed past five English defenders on a run that started near his own 10-metre line.
Townsend said it was like something out of the ‘Jonah Lomu Rugby’ video game.
“It was incredible, wasn’t it?,” he said after Scotland’s third win in a row over England and only their sixth victory at Twickenham.
“It reminded me of when, for everybody of a certain age, you played ‘Jonah Lomu Rugby’ and suddenly one person can go quicker.
“Duhan hasn’t had much rugby over the last few weeks. He’s trained really well with us but to play like he did today on the back of an injury, and not playing for Edinburgh, is real testament to how he’s got himself in this position, both mentally and physically.
“That first try was amazing, and one that gets the Scotland supporters going crazy in the stand and silences everyone else because you don’t see tries like that very often.” You can read more here about the moment Jonah Lomu was confronted by a Welsh rugby fan and the dignified response that followed.
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In the Daily Mail, columnist Jason White also likened DVDM to the man who revolutionised rugby with his awesome power in the 1990s. "It was like watching Jonah Lomu in his pomp," said White. "Just like Lomu steamrollered the England defence in the semi-finals of the 1995 World Cup, Van der Merwe was simply unstoppable.
"That surely has to rank as one of the all-time great Calcutta Cup tries. The man is just an absolute machine when he gets into his stride. When he’s in full flow like that, Van der Merwe is just a force of nature. The way he just bulldozed his way through England’s defence was a sight to behold.
"The defenders were just bouncing off him as Van der Merwe trampled over the top of them, leaving a trail of total destruction behind him."
It was a flying start for the Scots, shortly after Wales had fallen 34-10 at home to Ireland in their campaign opener.
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