Duhan van der Merwe has seen the trolling about his origins before and he’s using it as motivation to win a test place and show he’s a true bred Lion.
The South African-born Scotland and Edinburgh wing admits he’s noticed jibes from both home and South African supporters questioning his right to play for both Scotland and for the Lions against Japan at Murrayfield this weekend.
But they’re just adding to his determination to show what he can do.
“I’ve had a think about that, and I’m just going to ignore all those things,” he said. “I’ve just been ignoring all the stuff that people have been saying on social media before.
“You get the odd comment like ‘He’s born in South Africa, he shouldn’t be representing Scotland or the Lions’.
“I don’t really want to go into detail about that. I’ll just put all that stuff behind me and focus on what I can focus on. I know how I feel in my heart sitting here and representing the Lions and that’s all that matters.
“Does it motivate me? Yes, it does.”
‘As the week went by I’ve grown more confident’
Van der Merwe admits he was surprised to hear his name called at the start of the week to play in the 1888 Vodafone Lions Cup, but he quickly got his head around it.
“I’m buzzing for tomorrow,” he said “I’m very excited to play and get my first start and represent the Lions – and play in front of fans again at last.
“When Gats announced the squad on Tuesday I was quite shocked, and a little bit stressed.
“But as the week went by I got more confident. We had our captain’s run this morning, and from now on I’m just getting the head away from rugby. Then tomorrow when I get up, switch on.”
‘Buzzing’ to be playing in front of fans again
Top try scorer in the Six Nations, with an incredible rate of eight tries in just 10 starts, Duhan hasn’t played in front of fans for Scotland yet.
“It’s been a very long time,” he said. “I’ve obviously played for Edinburgh for four years at BT Murrayfield. But I haven’t played in front of Scottish supporters since I made my test debut.
“I’m really looking forward to that. We had some fans over in Jersey – I think it was 1,500 people – and it actually felt like much more. So I’m buzzing to play in front of 16,000 fans in this game.”
‘I really started my career here, in Edinburgh’
Clearly he never thought as a youngster growing up that he’d end up playing against the Springboks and for the Lions.
“Growing up, we would always say that a test against the Lions was the highest of highs you can achieve as a rugby player,” he said. “Now sitting here, with all the players, I never thought that would happen.
“I obviously left quite early, at just 20. I really started my career here, in Edinburgh. But I’m not going to go back and say, `look, this is what I achieved as a player, screw you guys’.
“I’m just focusing on myself going back as a Lions player. I’m absolutely buzzing to do that.
“All of my family and my mates in South Africa are behind me. They can’t wait to see me play. That’s the most important thing for me.”