Graham responds to Van der Merwe Edinburgh exit rumours

The 29-year-old returned to Edinburgh for a second spell in 2022 but his contract expires at the end of the current season and several French clubs are battling for his signature.

Top 14 clubs La Rochelle, Bayonne and Montpellier are amongst the interested parties and Scottish rugby will need to present Van der Merwe a substantial package to match the finances on offer in France. 

Graham and Van der Merwe - Scotland’s record try scorer - have lined up on opposite wings for club and country for several years. The dynamic duo have developed a close bond and Graham insists his teammates’s potential exit would represent a massive loss for Edinburgh. 

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“Obviously,” Graham replied when asked if he wanted Van der Merwe to extend his contract at Edinburgh.

“Me and Duhi work really well together - I’ve played with him forever now. He’d be a huge character to lose at the club, but it’s not my decision. It’s up to him.”

There’s only two rounds of URC fixtures before the Autumn Nations Series with Scotland facing Fiji, Portugal, South Africa and Australia at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Graham and Van der Merwe have been Gregor Townsend’s preferred options on the wings in recent years but they face mounting competition, especially with Edinburgh’s poor form. 

Kyle Steyn is providing fierce competition to start for Scotland (Image: SNS) Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn is in strong contention to start against Fiji as he’ll return from injury this weekend, while Jamie Dobie, Kyle Rowe and Arron Reed provide alternatives.

Graham knows he faces serious competition for a starting jersey

“The pressure is on,” Graham admitted.

“Me and Duhi have been speaking about that - the pressure is on us. The lack of ball has not given us the opportunities to perform how we want to, and you look at other wingers out there in our position and they’re getting loads of ball.

"I do think there is a bit of pressure on us to go out there and perform and really show what we can do.

“Especially for me. I had not played for eight months - I’ve got a lot of points to prove, that I can get back up to where I was 12 months ago. So yeah, for me there is a wee bit of pressure, but I just go out there, do what I do, and get my hands on the ball.”

Graham scored on his return from an eight-month injury absence in Edinburgh’s pre-season clash against Gloucester.

But the 27-year-old failed to cross in Edinburgh’s opening three URC games, until he finally opened his account for the season in the impressive win over the Stormers. 

Darcy Graham celebrates his try in the win over Stormers (Image: SNS) Edinburgh have struggled to get the ball into the hands of their world-class back three regularly enough but Graham knows he will inevitably be judged on his try-scoring record.

“As wingers, that’s our job, isn’t it?” Graham admitted. “But it wasn’t not scoring the tries that was the frustrating thing, I think it was just about the lack of ball, lack of opportunity - that was probably my most frustrating thing. But we’re working hard off the pitch to see how we can get the wingers involved. It will come round.

“We’ve got world-class players all across the back line. I feel sorry for the forwards - they’ve been putting in an absolute shift in the last four games.

"They’ve been going to war, so I think as a back line we do need to step up, help them out, take a bit of pressure off them and give them a bit of a rest. That will make their job easier - then the backs can’t moan about getting no ball.

“I’m still trying to find my feet a wee bit. I’ve probably not had as much ball as I’d like - it’s been a bit frustrating, especially the first three games. Not the game plan, because the game plan is to play.

"We’ve got a licence to play, it just did not really come together until last weekend, which was really nice. And I think it’s just about adding on to that and firing into this weekend.”

Cardiff are the visitors at Hive Stadium on Saturday night with Edinburgh to build on the Stormers wins and banish the memories of the dismal first half against the Lions.  Edinburgh conceded a record 48 first-half points in South Africa and Graham admits it was a line in the sand moment. 

Graham added: “The Lions - that wasn’t us out there. It was 40 minutes of rugby which kind of let us down, that’s all it was.

"I know it wasn’t good enough, and all the boys know that, we don’t need hounded on it.

Darcy Graham in action for Edinburgh (Image: Craig Watson)

"We’ve drawn a line in the sand and we’ve moved on. We asked for a huge performance last weekend and we got that, we got a reaction. 

"I think we just needed that first win - get that feeling back again, and get the excitement back in the changing room."