Van the man: After taming tough Lions, Stormers winger is keen to make No.11 jersey his own

Stormers wing Edwill van der Merwe was simply electrifying to watch in their 39-37 Rainbow Cup SA win over the Lions last weekend.

He first caught the eye with a superb solo try from 60 metres out, stepping past two defenders before beating the last man with pace to level the scores (29-29) with a little over 20 minutes to go.

Then with three minutes to play, Van the Man expertly caught a Tim Swiel cross kick before a chicken-wing pass to Johan du Toit to set up Dan du Plessis’s try. The Stormers were down 37-29 at the time and eventually won the match 39-37.

Van der Merwe’s heroics at Ellis Park reminded many of his days in the maroon jumper of Maties Rugby Club.

Still the Varsity Cup’s leading try scorer of all time with 23 touchdowns in 37 matches, Van der Merwe says with a chuckle: “Saturday reminded me a lot of that, because Varsity Cup back in my day was nine-point try – so it encouraged you to run from your own half. I think we saw a bit of that on Saturday, but I have to keep playing well.”

The 25-year-old will be hoping for a repeat performance against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.

But he is not looking too far ahead in terms of possibly forcing his way into contention for the national team.

For now, Van der Merwe wants to make the Stormers No.11 jersey his own.

He says: “I don’t think it’s really a personal battle [against the Sharks] or anything. Like I said I’m still fighting for a starting position in this team.

“With the quality we have in this squad, we push each other a lot and we help each other a lot.

[email protected]