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Van der Merwe’s Twickenham cracker named Guinness Six Nations Try of the Championship

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Duhan van der Merwe has won the Guinness Six Nations Try of the Championship for his dazzling score against England at Twickenham in Round 1.

Duhan van der Merwe has won the Guinness Six Nations Try of the Championship for his dazzling score against England at Twickenham in Round 1.

Van der Merwe picked up the ball inside his own half from winger Kyle Steyn and had an awful lot of work to do with the England defensive line creeping up on him.

That proved to be nothing more than a stumbling block as Van der Merwe bulldozed and sidestepped his way through six tackles to score one of the most memorable tries the Championship and Twickenham have ever seen.

First, he stepped through a gap between Owen Farrell and Ollie Lawrence, before evading Ollie Chessum’s desperate attempt at a tap tackle.

He was then one on one with Freddie Steward and showed excellent feet to go around his attempted tackle, before stepping back inside to leave Jack van Poortvliet stranded and then having the strength to hold off Alex Dombrandt and dive over for an incredibly special score.

It was not his only try in that match either, as he went on to score the deciding try late on in the game, as Scotland made history at Twickenham.

The 29-23 victory was their third win in a row against the auld enemy, the first time they have achieved that since 1972, while it was the first time they have defeated England twice in a row on English soil since 1909, when Twickenham was still a Cabbage Patch.

Van der Merwe was voted the winner by the public, beating nominees Hugo Keenan for his effort against France, Damian Penaud for his try in the same game, as well as his tries against England and Wales and Pierre Bruno’s score against Ireland in Rome.