Duhan van der Merwe insists he will be raring to go when joining up with the British & Irish Lions squad, even if he doesn’t get to play before then.
The South African winger suffered an ankle injury that required surgery in Edinburgh’s Vodacom URC match against the Dragons on 28 March. He is expected to be fit for the URC quarter-finals – if 10th-placed Edinburgh qualify.
“I was going to try and play for Edinburgh in the final of the Challenge Cup, which is two-and-a-bit weeks away,” Van der Merwe explained on Thursday after being selected for his second Lions tour. “Unfortunately, we lost against Bath, so hopefully the boys can get some points out of the next two [URC] games [against Connacht away and Ulster at home] and I can be back for a quarter-final.”
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Van der Merwe, who started all three Tests for the Lions against the Springboks in 2021, said he was “not too far away” from returning to full fitness ahead of the Australia tour.
“I’m really positive. Each day I come out to run, I just feel better and better. At the same time, it gives me four or five weeks to get in unbelievable shape because I’m not really out on the pitch, out and about, so I can really look after my body, work on the niggles I’ve got and just work on my speed. I’m really looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”
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Van der Merwe admitted to being anxious before the squad announcement having “not heard anything” from Lions management.
“It would have been a lot easier if I did. So, you go into days like Thursday and you don’t know anything. You just have to switch on the telly and hopefully see your name being announced.
“I imagine they’ve spoken to our head physio or something like that, but you don’t know if they’re having these conversations or not. So, for me, it’s kind of like thinking in the back of my head: ‘Are you guys updating them? Like, you know, how well I’m doing and how far ahead of schedule I actually am but do they?’. I didn’t really know much [about what was going on], to be honest.”
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Lions 2025 schedule:
Saturday 28 June: vs Western Force, Optus Stadium, Perth
Wednesday 2 July: vs Queensland Reds, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Saturday 5 July: vs New South Wales Waratahs, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Wednesday 9 July: vs ACT Brumbies, GIO Stadium, Canberra
Saturday 12 July: vs Invitational Australian and New Zealand XV, Adelaide Oval
Saturday 19 July: vs Wallabies, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Tuesday 22 July: vs Melbourne Rebels, Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
Saturday 26 July: vs Wallabies, Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday 2 August: vs Wallabies, Stadium Australia, Sydney
Photo: Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images
