The Scottish ‘Van’ we lost

Many will say that the dynamic Cheslin Kolbe is the world’s leading winger. Others, mainly in New Zealand, would say Will Jordan is the best in the business, but could it be that Scotland’s SA-born Duhan van der Merwe is the No 1?

There is no doubt Van der Merwe is an outstanding rugby player, a real try-machine, but the big question on everyone’s lips is, would the 28-year-old have become a Springbok, maybe a World Cup winner, had he stayed in South Africa and not left for Europe in 2016?

Of course, we’ll never know, but one’s got to wonder what Bok boss Rassie Erasmus thinks of Van der Merwe and what the player himself feels about the fact he plays for Scotland and not potentially the Boks.

That he is world class is not in dispute. And he’s also not the first SA-born player to leave these shores to look for greener pastures elsewhere. Or maybe it’s just the lure of international rugby elsewhere.

Clyde Rathbone left his home country to play for the Wallabies, Brian Liebenberg played for France, and CJ Stander became an Irish legend. There are others, too, who gave up on their Bok dream to take up a chance in other countries, especially in Scotland and France.

Had these men shown more patience back in SA would they eventually have got the call-up?

Would Van der Merwe have impressed Erasmus enough to play for the Boks?

Van der Merwe, who scored another hat-trick against England last weekend and was the talk of the town, is now perhaps South Africa’s greatest rugby export. He has scored 26 tries in 37 Tests for Scotland and is now just one try short of the Scotland record of 27 Test tries, held by Stuart Hogg.

It is a given he will break the record and stand alone as Scotland’s most prolific try-scorer. The question is, how many will he end up on?

While it is every player’s choice where they want to play and who they want to represent, it is unfortunate Van der Merwe got lost to the Boks.

Yes, there are great wingers in SA, but it would have been a nice option to pick the powerful “Scottish man” as well.