My Top Five | DTH van der Merwe

• 4 May 2020

He's got more to choose from than any other player in the history of the club, but we've asked him to whittle 54 down to just five - DTH van der Merwe selects his top five tries in a Glasgow Warriors jersey

Glasgow Warriors v Ulster
2015 Guinness PRO12 semi-final
Scotstoun Stadium

“I’d worked
hard to get back onto the bench for the semi-final, and was lucky enough to
catch that dream of a pass from Finn [Russell] and score.

“My kids
find that try on YouTube all the time – there’s this picture of two women in
the crowd biting their nails, and they looked like how I felt when Finn was lining up the conversion!

“It was a
nerve-wracking game, but it’s one of the most special moments I’ve ever had in
a Glasgow shirt. The skies after that game were beautiful, the atmosphere was
incredible and emotions were definitely running high after the game.”

Glasgow
Warriors v Zebre
23/03/18, Guinness PRO14
Scotstoun Stadium

“This was my first
game back with the club, and there had been a lot of talk about the reasons
behind me coming back to Glasgow, how I was going to fit into the team and so
on. To score early was the perfect way
to come back, and hearing that roar at Scotstoun made it even better.”

Glasgow Warriors v Munster
2015 Guinness PRO12 Final
Kingspan Stadium

“Gregor
[Townsend] named me in the starting XV for the final, and with a bit of
Fijian magic from Leone [Nakarawa] I got over in the corner.

“Leone had
actually been told by Gregor pre-match “don’t offload, this is finals rugby so
let’s keep the ball” – he then went and played the game of his life and created
two tries in the opening 20 minutes with offloads! He played his game and we
followed suit. In the changing room after the match, Gregor thanked Leone for
not listening to him!

“I actually
watched the final back not too long ago, and the memories just came flooding
back.”

Glasgow
Warriors v Zebre
14/02/20
Scotstoun Stadium

“Obviously
I’m hoping that we get to play again this season, but as it stands this was my
last try for Glasgow. Pete [Horne] put a great cross-field kick across, and
it’s always special to score in front of the Warrior Nation.

“At that point in
time I probably didn’t think too much of it, but the significance of it now
makes it pretty special to me.”

Treviso v Glasgow Warriors
22/04/12
Stadio Comunale di Monigo

“This one holds a special place in the memory because of the journey that I’d been on to get to this moment, and what the try meant to the club.

“I’d come back from the 2011 Rugby World Cup with a shoulder injury, which ended up requiring some serious surgery so I was expected to be out for most of the 2011/12 season. I worked really hard in my recovery though, because I was determined to make it back and help the team – we knew we were on the edge of taking that next step.

“The try itself, I remember taking the ball at first receiver and a gap just opening up. I went through, beat a couple of defenders and it ended up being the winning try. You can see what it means to us by the celebrations – that was the result that sealed a place in the playoffs for us for the first time, and that was what we’d been working towards all year. It was such an important moment for us as a club and one I’ll never forget.”