VAN DER MERWE AT THE DOUBLE FOR EDINBURGH
● Winger’s brace secures battling win over Munster as Edinburgh boost Pro14 play-off bid
South African winger’s brace of tries propels capital side to win over Munster and strengthens their play-off hopes
Edinburgh strengthened their position in the Pro14 play-off places last night with a hardfought but deserved win over Munster. Two tries from Duhan van der Merwe, one in either half, did the damage to send Richard Cockerill’s team ten points clear in third place in Conference B. Jaco van der Walt added one conversion, while Munster could only reply with two penalties.
Ulster, fourth in the conference, have a game in hand, but, with both teams still to play each other, Edinburgh are in control of their own destiny. Munster, meanwhile, remain second in Conference A, some distance adrift of Glasgow. Despite this setback, they should still go through to the play-offs without too much difficulty.
Edinburgh thought they had got off to a flying start when, after heavy pressure had seen Ben Toolis held up over the Munster line, Bill Mata burst through a ruck to touch down. But, after consulting the TMO, the referee ruled that Fraser Mckenzie, the Edinburgh captain, had put in an illegal block to clear a path for his No 8.
Munster were pinned back in their own half for almost the entire first quarter, yet took the lead on only their second real foray upfield when JJ Hanrahan was on target with a 30-metre penalty awarded for a ruck offence.
The score marked a momentum shift for a good quarter of an hour, as the Irish side grew increasingly confident in attack. However, Edinburgh remained resolute in defence, and took the lead with a rapid counter-attack from deep. Dougie Fife, pictured, did all the initial hard work, breaking through three tackles before veering left in search of support. He found it in Van der Merwe, and the winger had the legs to score close to the left corner. Van der Walt’s conversion attempt went wide.
The narrow interval lead was no more than Edinburgh deserved, and they came close to extending it within a minute of the restart only for their lineout drive to be penalised barely a metre from the try line. Both teams were missing some of their key internationals, but the depth of the home squad was illustrated by their first three replacements, all of them internationals. The last of the trio to arrive was Simon Berghan, but before the tighthead prop had a chance to get involved Munster regained the lead thanks to a second penalty from Hanrahan, awarded after Magnus Bradbury was adjudged to have held on in the tackle.
Edinburgh were dealt another blow when Jason Harries was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Robin Copeland, but they responded well to the numerical disadvantage, upping the tempo of their attacks as they searched for a way through. They thought they had found it when Fife crossed in the right corner, but the move was pulled back for a forward pass.
They retained possession all the same as the referee had been playing advantage, and when the ball came out of the scrumandwasfedleft,vander Merwe was again on hand to squeeze in at the corner. This time Van der Walt managed to add the two points, making it a very profitable 14-man spell.
A six-point lead meant the match was still very much in the balance but, with Duncan Weir on the field to add composure, Edinburgh by and large did a good job of running the clock down. The replacement stand-off had a chance to put the issue beyond doubt with a long-range penalty five minutes from time, but while the kick was strong enough it lacked accuracy. There were a few hairy moments in the closing minutes as Munster pressed hard for the winning score, but the defence held on intelligently.