'That is one of the best try-saving tackles you will ever see'
Worcester Warriors made the Premiership Rugby Cup final yesterday with a 39-25 win over Gloucester at Kingsholm, and they have Duhan van der Merwe to thank.
Usually it is what the 106kg winger does with ball in hand that gets all the plaudits, and indeed he did score, but it was actually a tackle that proved to be match defining against the Cherry and Whites.
The tackle actually came in the ninth minute of the match with the scores still level at 0-0. Gloucester wing Alex Morgan looked for all the world like he was going to score when he received the ball five metres out from a Gloucester break. However, van der Merwe was able to engulf him as he went over the line, and with his sizeable frame wrestle to keep the ball held up. The tackle was so impressive that Austin Healey said in commentary that it "is one of the best try saving tackles you will ever see."
An early try could have swung the game completely, and would have put the home side in the ascendency. Instead, the Warriors repelled them and came out on top. Come the end of May, when the Warriors would have already played London Irish in the final, they may look back at that tackle very fondly.
Take a look:
Gloucester Rugby
15. Kyle Moyle
14. Alex Morgan *
13. Louis Hillman-Cooper *
12. Giorgi Kveseladze
11. Jacob Morris *
10. George Barton *
9. Stephen Varney *
1. Ciaran Knight *
2. Henry Walker *
3. Jamal Ford-Robinson
4. Arthur Clark *
5. Cameron Jordan *
6. Freddie Thomas *
7. Jack Clement *
8. Jack Bartlett *
Replacements
16. Seb Blake *
17. Olly Adkins *
18. Bryan O’Connor *
19. Rob Nixon *
20. Josh Gray *
21. Matty Jones *
22. Morgan Adderly-Jones *
23. Reece Dunn *
*Denotes Academy player or graduate from the Gloucester Rugby Academy.
Worcester Warriors
15 Noah Heward
14 Tom Howe
13 Alex Hearle
12 Seb Atkinson
11 Duhan van der Merwe
10 Fin Smith
9 Gareth Simpson
1 Ethan Waller (C),
2 Isaac Miller
3 Jack Owlett
4 James Scott
5 Andrew Kitchener
6 Jack Forsythe
7 Sam Lewis
8 Sione Vailanu
Replacements
16 Niall Annett
17 Kai Owen
18 Christian Judge
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Kyle Hatherell
21 Ollie Wynn
22 Jamie Shillcock
23 Francois Venter