Deadly Van der Merwe punishes England again

EDINBURGH :Duhan van der Merwe was the Calcutta Cup hero again when he followed up last year's stunning Twickenham double with a Murrayfield hat-trick that propelled Scotland to a 30-21 Six Nations victory over England on Saturday.

Last season the converted South African scored one of the best individual tries seen at Twickenham for years, then finished off a spectacular Scotland move to seal their third successive win over their fiercest rivals.

They had not claimed four in a row since the 19th century but matched that at Murrayfield as Van der Merwe showed all his attributes with a superb treble.

Scotland were 10-0 down when centre Huw Jones broke through and sent Van der Merwe clear for a simple finish in the right corner.

Ten minutes later he collected the ball deep in his own half, evaded two tackles and fired up the after-burners to score, a body blow for England who had been playing well.

Scotland led 17-13 at the break but, with England having come back from halftime deficits against Italy and Wales, the next score was crucial and it went to Van der Merwe, who scooped up a nicely-judged Finn Russell kick to gallop in for his third.

"I can't believe it to be honest, but I have to thank the boys for giving me the opportunity," Van der Merwe said.

"We had a really good first phase, there was a lot of space open and I knew Finn was going to kick it to me. Lucky for me it bounced in my hands."

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has overseen five wins and a draw in the last seven Calcutta Cup clashes.

"You have to celebrate these moments, especially when you have a trophy in the dressing-room," he said.

"Duhan was great today. He saw the opportunities and went for it. I think the first try was really special in that we didn't have