Duhan van der Merwe responds to 'SpringJock' jibes ahead of British & Irish Lions tour of Australia and Argentina match
Updated 20/06/2025 at 18:56 GMT+1
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A stalwart for Scotland and a key player for the British & Irish Lions in their tour of Australia this summer, Duhan van der Merwe is undoubtedly one of the world's most talented wingers. But his South African background has resulted in jibes questioning his Scottishness, even after he became the country's record try-scorer. Ahead of the Lions' match against Argentina, he has had his say.
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Duhan van der Merwe has had to endure frequent taunts about his background while representing Scotland.
The 30-year-old winger, who will play for the British & Irish Lions in Australia this summer, was born in South Africa and moved to Scotland in 2017.
He made his debut for the national team in 2020 and is Scotland's record try scorer with 31 tries in 49 appearances.
Van der Merwe says the move to Scotland "wasn't easy" and he has had to sacrifice plenty.
"When I speak about it, I get really emotional because it’s a country that has given me so much when I had nothing," Van der Merwe said about Scotland in an interview with the Guardian.
"I had a failed medical [at Edinburgh] and at that time it would have been easy for them to say: ‘Look, you’ve failed your medical – off you go.’ But they looked after me.
"I went over as a young boy and people don’t understand how hard it is, leaving your family behind, leaving everything behind, going to a country where you don’t know how things work.
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"Initially, my English wasn’t good at all. It was tough. People don’t understand how hard that transition is. It’s not easy, no one has guaranteed me: ‘Oh, Duhan, if you move over at the age of 22 you’ll be Scotland’s top try-scorer, you’ll have played 49 games for Scotland, you’ll go on a second Lions tour.’
"People don’t see the amount of hard work and sacrifice you put in because I wouldn’t be sitting here without it."
The Lions start their preparations for their summer tour of Australia with their first warm-up match against Argentina in Dublin on Friday evening.
Van der Merwe started all three Tests when the Lions faced the Springboks in 2021.
He was also the target of abuse on social media as South African fans had their say about his switch to Scotland and accused him of being a 'SpringJock'.
"I always knew they were going to get stuck into me," he said.
"There were a lot of personal messages on social media towards me.
"I just dust it off because I know how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am. You always have people on social media who are going to bring you down and slate you, but I’ve got to a point in my career where it doesn’t faze me at all."
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Van der Merwe has further put down roots in Scotland by setting up a whisky company with teammate Pierre Schoeman.
"Coming back to my story of giving back to Scotland and what better way for us to say thank you and give back than starting our own whisky company?" he said.
"I don’t agree with some of the things people say because it’s not easy - the biggest thing for me is buying into the culture and that’s something I’ve done really well.
"I see Scottish people as some of my best mates. Pierre and I have started our own business, my wife has got her own company in Scotland as well. I’m still in Edinburgh and I’m loving life."
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