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Duhan van der Merwe's Six Nations is over

By PA
(Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe is out of the rest of the Guinness Six Nations after receiving a three-week ban from the Rugby Football Union. The 26-year-old received a red card for reckless or dangerous play during Worcester’s defeat at London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday. The ban rules him out of Scotland’s remaining games with Italy and Ireland.

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Jeremy Summers, chair of the independent disciplinary panel who heard the case, said: “The player had sufficient time and opportunity to have executed a lawful hand-off but failed to do so. The contact he then made to an opponent’s head was direct, at speed and involved a leading forearm, all of which are factors pointing to high danger and a red card in the World Rugby Head Contact Process.

“No low danger or mitigating factors were present and, whilst some may feel it resulted in a harsh outcome, the referee correctly applied the HCP.”

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We’re joined by former Scotland captain and ex-Clermont scrum half Greig Laidlaw to discuss whether the Scots can be the ones to stop this France side and beat them in the Six Nations for a third straight year. We chat about how to stop Antoine Dupont, the physicality advantage of the French, Finn Russell’s need to bounce back and the selection issues both sides face. Plus, there’s a couple of crazy red cards in the same Top 14 game to mull over and we pick our MEATER Moment Of The Week…
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Le French Rugby Podcast – Greig Laidlaw | Episode 22

We’re joined by former Scotland captain and ex-Clermont scrum half Greig Laidlaw to discuss whether the Scots can be the ones to stop this France side and beat them in the Six Nations for a third straight year. We chat about how to stop Antoine Dupont, the physicality advantage of the French, Finn Russell’s need to bounce back and the selection issues both sides face. Plus, there’s a couple of crazy red cards in the same Top 14 game to mull over and we pick our MEATER Moment Of The Week…
Use the code FRENCHPOD10 at checkout for 10% off any full price item at Meater.com

The rest of the Scotland squad will head to Rome knowing the title is out of reach, but there is no chance of Mark Bennett treating Saturday’s showdown as a meaningless fixture.

The 29-year-old Edinburgh centre feared his international career was over after he drifted out of the picture following his 22nd cap against USA in June 2018. After a strong start to the current campaign with his club, he was called back into the Scotland fold for the Autumn Tests but did not feature due to injury.

However, having waited more than three-and-a-half years, he finally got back on the pitch for his country as a replacement in last month’s defeat by France. He is now desperate to continue his international renaissance in Rome this weekend. “Getting back in the team has been something I’ve been gunning for over the last few years and I’ve not been able to achieve it, so getting back out there against France was incredible,” he said. “I absolutely loved it so if I get the opportunity again this weekend, it’s another one I’ll savour.”

Bennett admits the Scots will have to tame a partisan home crowd in the Stadio Olimpico if they are to reignite their Six Nations campaign following back-to-back defeats against Wales and France. “It’s a great place to play rugby,” he said.

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“The Italian crowd is always very passionate. We’ve got to start fast and not let them get wind in their sails because they’re a side who, when they get on top of you and get momentum, will gain confidence. We need to find a way to stop that.”

Bennett insists Scotland still have plenty to play for in their last two matches against Italy and Ireland despite the deflating effect of losing two of their opening three matches. “We’re aiming to finish the tournament with back-to-back wins,” he said.  “We’ve got to win this weekend and that’s the most important game at the moment. We’re up against a good side so we’ve got make sure we’re prepped for it.

“If you look at the last few games, we’ve potentially missed a few opportunities. We’re disappointed about a few things we let go in the France game and we want to rectify that. As a backline, we’re really excited about the opportunity this weekend to come out and show what we’ve got. We want to make amends.”

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Comments

2 Comments
J
Johann 985 days ago

To the face/head. Out. Correct call.

R
Richard 988 days ago

What a soft card
He went to fend with his hand but the guy was too close to him so he got his forearm instead
It wasn’t a swinging arm

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JW 1 hour ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.


I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.


Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.


The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.

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