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The LA Giltinis have signed DTH van der Merwe. The Canadian flier joins the new Major League Rugby franchise after eleven years playing in Europe. The move follows months of speculation that he was on his way to back to North America to join a MLR team.
van den Merwe scored 57 tries in the Pro 14, making him the deadliest of all finishers in the Celtic-Italian-South African League over the period of 2010-2019. He played for Scotland side the Glasgow Warriors and in Wales for the Scarlets. He also played in England for the Newcastle Falcons.
van der Merwe announced the end of his 13-year test career after playing in his fourth Rugby World Cup last year. However, in a Looseheadz podcast episode the 34-year-old has not ruled out a potential return for Canada down the road.
Primarily a left wing but also an accomplished outside center at international level, van der Merwe scored a record 38 tries in 61 tests for Canada. He played in four RWCs for Canada. At RWC 2015 he became the first player to score a try in all four pool matches for a country. He and Jeff Hassler were Canada’s first-choice wingers in both RWCs 2015 and 2019. Hassler has signed for the Austin Gilgronis.
