A Little Bit of a Risk

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Prior to the start of season 2017-2018 Edinburgh signed 2 players (among others). One was considered a marquee signing and the other was unheralded.

The marquee signing was a New Zealander who had played for The Chiefs, the Hurricanes and almost 70 times for The Crusaders and who immediately prior to Edinburgh signing him was playing for Bath. 


At the time of his signing, Richard Cockerill said of Robbie Fruean, that “You have to understand where we are as a club at the moment. We’re probably not first off the rank when people are choosing clubs to come to, so we have to take a little bit of a risk on some players.”


It was, unfortunately for Edinburgh and even more so for Fruean, a risk that didn’t pan out as the centre was forced to retire from rugby after playing only 5 times for Edinburgh due to complications from the heart valve transplants he’d had in his early 20’s. 


Even in the short time he wore the black and red for Edinburgh there were moments when you could clearly see what he was brought in to do. 


A cracking try against Dragons where he came from deep to collect a Fowles pass from the base of a ruck to power over under the posts is my foremost memory of him as well as his contribution to a Dean try in the match against Benetton that followed it.


Fruean is back home in New Zealand and seems to be well. You can see him in this youtube clip with his family recorded only 7 months ago for Samoan Language Week.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTGCBd2Ssig


Richard Cockerill’s “little bit of a risk” comment could clearly have also been made for another one of Edinburgh's other close season signings that year. 


A virtually unknown Duhan Van Der Merwe arrived from Montpellier with a grand total of 6 professional rugby matches under his belt between the French side and Bulls back in his homeland of South Africa. He also arrived with a hip injury which meant he failed his medical and never took to the field for his new club until Fruean had departed. 


Ironically he had to return to South Africa for his debut as Edinburgh took on Cheetahs in late November 2017. It was a bit of a rout as Cheetahs, who went on to make the playoffs in their first year in the PRO14,  scored 5 tries and defeated Edinburgh 33-13. All of Edinburgh's 13 points came from Sam Hidalgo-Clyne but perhaps there was a glimpse even then of what was to come as Duhan carried for 99 metres and beat more defenders than anyone else on the day along with Jaco van Der Walt.


We did have to wait a couple of weeks for his first tries as an Edinburgh player when along with 9 other Edinburgh players he scored against Russian side Krasny in a 78-0 procession at Murrayfield.


Since then his try scoring has been pretty consistent and he has managed double figures in every full season he’s been at the club as well as topping the PRO14 in stats across the seasons such as clean breaks, defenders beaten, and metres gained.


I heard on a rugby podcast over the weekend that “he only scores against the lesser teams”. That's just not accurate. Unless you count Munster, Leinster, Wasps, Bordeaux and yes, Glasgow as lesser teams. 


Alas those stats now look like history.  He hasn’t scored for Edinburgh thus far in 2020-2021 and although it’s a disrupted season blah blah any contribution now may be minimal. If the Rainbow Cup doesn't go ahead, and thanks to COVID that's not too far fetched, his time in the blue and burnt orange may be all but over.


He will still feature for Scotland having made his debut in the autumn. 3 tries in his first 4 caps is a reasonable return I think ????


It’s a short career and injury could make it even shorter. I grudge no one the opportunity of a decent pay day but still wonder about Worcester as a destination despite discovering that they have the best stats in the Premiership for creating chances but the worst for converting them. 


We shall see.


In the meantime, here's my top 10 Duhan tries for Edinburgh, in no particular order.



  1. V Munster 30/11/18 - Lineout followed by Van Der Merwe beating three defenders (2nd). NB - don’t watch all of these highlights. Too distressing. Skip to 5:07

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j17e5eKRg0


  1. V Glasgow 22/12/18 - Intercepted pass – ran length of field (2nd)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmWzALkI-VA&t=4s


  1. V Wasps 6/12/19 - Run in from distance – nice step to beat defender (2nd)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhm9EXtRk7o


  1. V Kings 4/1/20 - Scrum on Kings 22, quick hands and Duhan across from his wing with a powerful run into the corner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nah-CPeB92I


  1. V Bordeaux 11/1/20 - interception by Bennett on Edinburgh 22, pass to Watson and then to Duhan who runs the length to score.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nah-CPeB92I


  1. V Scarlets 15/2/20 - Overhead pass from Haining, on halfway, beats 3 and then steps another to score under posts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xilFqkSP_Xo&t=28s


  1. V Connacht 21/2/20 - Looping pass from Hickey to Duhan to force his way over in corner despite 3 Connacht hanging off him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFHIWdUhUHA


  1. V Leinster 9/2/18 - Chip from SHC inside Leinster half finds Duhan. He beats attempted tackles from 2 defenders to score

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoSc7f4xbPY&t=211s


  1. V Munster 16/3/18 - Dougie Fife with the ball just outside Edinburgh 22 sets off on a run and beats 3-4 defenders. As he approaches the Munster 10 metre line Duhan races up his outside and takes the pass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTkVQHbrfLI


  1. V Scarlets 14/4/18 - Edinburgh win a ruck inside own 22 SHC dummies and beats one man and then sends a chip forward for Duhan to chase. He catches it on the Scarlets 22 and runs in (2nd)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnbrSkJtM-4&t=274s


If I’ve missed your favourite let me know in the comments.

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