Dream homecoming for Van der Merwe
SOME 6,000 miles from home, deep in the heartland of the Afrikaners, the Glasgow Warriors players probably felt obliged to support the locals on Saturday morning. The more adventurous among them even broke out with their best ‘Seth Efrican’ accent.
They had little option but to pledge full and unwavering allegiance to the Boks as they chomped down on their breakfast bagels in Bloemfontein.
Watching South Africa’s thrilling victory over the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship set the tone for what was to be a triumphant day for the Warriors.
Key to converting his teammates was DTH Van der Merwe, who was playing professional rugby back in the land of his birth for the very first time.
Quite what Glasgow’s Kiwi coach Dave Rennie made of the celebrations is another matter, but it certainly set his team up for what was to follow later in the day.
In surviving an early onslaught from an ambitious Cheetahs side, and overturning a five-point halftime deficit, Glasgow eventually ran in seven tries at the Free State Stadium en route to putting a halfcentury of points on the scoreboard.
The result secured a third successive win at the start of the new Pro14 campaign for Rennie’s men, with the coach applauding later what he called a ‘complete performance’ in the second half.
And the occasion was particularly special for Van der Merwe. For the locals, the Glasgow winger had gone from party-starter to party-pooper.
‘It had always been a dream of mine to play in South Africa,’ said the 32-year-old, who scored the fifth of Warriors’ seven tries. ‘I had played schoolboy rugby when I was growing up, but then I left to move to Canada in 2003.
‘I came here with Canada a few years ago, but I was injured and wasn’t able to play. This was the first time I’ve played professional rugby in South Africa. It was a real honour for me because I had some family and friends watching.
‘My uncle was in the stand with a few others. These are people I hadn’t seen in over ten years. On a personal note, it was a really special occasion for me. I was delighted to be able to mark it with a try and a really good victory.
‘The whole team sat down together at breakfast and watched the game between New Zealand and South Africa. We were all cheering for the Springboks.
‘Every time the Boks scored a try, the staff members at our hotel would run over and celebrate with us and thank us for supporting their team. It was special.’
Glasgow scored the opening try after just 71 seconds. And it arrived through the half-back pairing of Ali Price and Adam Hastings.
Scrum-half Price, restored to the line-up for his first start of the season, fed Hastings on the fivemetre line and he jinked his way through a couple of tackles to score, before kicking the extras.
Indeed, Price shone on his return to the side. His new, lean, mean, physique typified an impressive display of fitness from Glasgow as the game wore on.
Hastings put in his second manof-the-match appearance in as many weeks. A try and a flawless kicking display saw him finish with a personal haul of 22 points.
The game was chaotic in the first 40 minutes, with the Cheetahs running in three tries. The pick of them came from Malcolm Jaer, who finished a sweeping move that saw the home side go from one end of the field to the other after winning a turnover deep inside their own half.
Glasgow did well to survive a ten-minute period in the first half when Alex Dunbar was in the sin bin after a high tackle — and it was Price who got their second try on 25 minutes.
Still trailing 19-14 at the interval, though, Glasgow were offered a helping hand inside the opening 60 seconds of the second half when Jaer was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle on Tommy Seymour. Warriors rammed home their numerical advantage, scoring three times in the ten minutes that Jaer was off the field.
Seymour was the first to go over, followed by efforts from Price and Van der Merwe as Glasgow took the game away from the Cheetahs.
Captain Callum Gibbins, who turned 30 on Friday, marked his birthday weekend with a try, before George Horne completed the scoring.
It had been a tougher evening than the result suggested, but Van der Merwe was pleased that the Warriors adapted to their surroundings on the first leg of their South African swing.
‘It’s a bit of a shock to the system landing at Johannesburg — you’ve come from the UK and you’re suddenly stepping into 30-degree heat,’ he added. ‘With the altitude, as well, it can make it a really tough environment. But we made sure we trained properly and we were glad to get through the game.’
Victory came at a cost, though, with prop Zander Fagerson leaving the field on a stretcher after a nasty leg injury.
Warriors now go to Port Elizabeth to face Southern Kings next week. Having tamed the Cheetahs, they look like they’ll take some stopping.