Van der Merwe steers Edinburgh to win over Munster
Final Series berth, recorded their fifth win on the spin in the Championship with a low-scoring triumph over their Irish opponents from Conference A, the South African wing’s two tries proving enough for them to take the spoils.
Viliame Mata thought he had given the hosts the lead inside five minutes when he collected the ball with one hand from the breakdown before going over but, after review, the score was chalked off for an offside, the Fijian having initially placed his foot beyond the grounded ball.
Instead, Munster would take a 3-0 lead in the 20th minute through the boot of JJ Hanrahan.
The clash became a war of attrition as both sides struggled to make inroads but, with 36 minutes on the clock, Dougie Fife lit up BT Murrayfield.
The Edinburgh fullback collected a loose ball and then set off on an electrifying run from deep, leaving Munstermen trailing in his wake.
Van der Merwe had also put the pedal to the metal and arrived in support, receiving the ball from Fife to go over for a spectacular score.
The hosts would still hold a 5-3 advantage at the break but Munster went on to nose themselves back in front in the 50th minute, Hanrahan hitting successfully slotting away another penalty.
Shortly afterwards, Fife crashed over down the right side but saw his score ruled out for a forward pass – however, Edinburgh quickly engineered another try-scoring opportunity and the officials saw nothing wrong as van de Merwe touched down on the opposite flank, Jaco van der Walt converting.
That would prove to be the final decisive action of the match, Edinburgh seeing the game out to keep their season in rude health.
The Scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Van der Merwe 2
Con: Van der Walt
For Munster:
Pens: Hanrahan 2
Yellow Cards: Jason Harries (Edinburgh, 49)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Bill Mata, 7 John Hardie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Fraser McKenzie (captain), 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Jordan Lay.
Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Junior Rasolea
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 James Hart, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Brian Scott, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Jack Stafford, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Dan Goggin.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Elgan Williams (Wales), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
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