Edinburgh and Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe is unlikely to play once more earlier than Andy Farrell names his British and Irish Lions squad on 8 Might for this summer season’s tour to Australia.
The 29-year-old, Scotland’s file try-scorer with 32 in 49 Checks, suffered an ankle damage early in Edinburgh’s URC win over Dragons final Friday.
Whereas the membership haven’t disclosed the precise nature of the issue, an replace issued on Tuesday night mentioned Van der Merwe “is predicted to return throughout Might” after receiving the outcomes of an MRI scan the participant had on Monday.
Which means he’ll virtually definitely miss all of Edinburgh’s video games – between three and 5, relying on whether or not they progress to the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals – between now and Farrell’s squad announcement.
Van der Merwe began all three Checks on the final Lions tour of South Africa in 2021 however was already dealing with stiff competitors from the likes of Eire’s James Lowe and Mack Hansen and England’s Tommy Freeman and membership and nation team-mate Darcy Graham for a spot within the squad heading Down Beneath.
Edinburgh full their URC marketing campaign in opposition to Connacht on 10 Might and Ulster on 16 Might and hope to be concerned within the play-offs, which start on 31 Might, per week after the Problem Cup ultimate in the event that they get that far.
On Monday head coach Sean Everitt mentioned Van der Merwe’s ankle was “a bit swollen” and he would undoubtedly miss Friday’s Problem Cup last-16 fixture in opposition to Lions at The Hive.
“Clearly we’re hoping for the most effective, that it’s not too critical,” Everitt added. “We’re at an essential a part of our season now, so we’re simply hoping that it isn’t critical and that he can return to coaching as quickly as potential.”
In a double blow for the capital membership, Scotland lock Marshall Sykes has additionally been dominated out for the ultimate 5 video games of the URC common season with a foot damage.
Sykes, who made his Six Nations debut off the bench in Scotland’s ultimate match in opposition to France in Paris, has sustained a plantar fascia difficulty.
Everitt mentioned on Monday he hoped the second-row might return in “4 to 6 weeks” and the membership have now mentioned Sykes is predicted to be match “earlier than the tip of Might”.
