By Canadian Press

Stylish wing DTH van der Merwe leads Rugby Canada Hall of Fame Class of 2024

Jan 20, 2025 | 12:21 PM

DTH van der Merwe, Canada’s all-time leading try-scorer, can add Rugby Canada Hall of Famer to his resume.

The stylish wing scored 38 tries in 61 appearances for Canada, played in four World Cups and captained his country five times.

“I think I’m comfortable saying Canada’s greatest-ever attacking player,” said former Canada skipper Gareth Rees, a member of both the Rugby Canada and World Rugby halls of fame. “A nose for the (try-)line, knew how to score and you need that on a rugby field.

“Maybe not the best trainer, maybe not the best this or that, but when it counted he always seemed to find his hands on the ball.”

“He was class,” added Al Charron, another former Canada captain who shares the same Hall of Fame credentials as Rees and also is a member of the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame project team. “I think personally probably one of the best players to ever play for Canada.”

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“If you look at some of the tries he scored or set up, just an amazing, talented player,” he added. “Great vision. Great running style. I would have loved to have played with him.”

Joining van der Merwe in the Class of 2024 are fellow players Eddie Evans, Ed Fairhurst, John Hutchinson and Barbara Mervin as well as Joyce Henry and Ian Hyde-Lay as match officials and Rick Powers and Colette McAuley in the builders’ category.

“This year’s class of inductees to the Rugby Canada Hall of Fame showcases nine outstanding women and men who have brought honour and fame, on and off the field, to the history of rugby in Canada,” Mike Luke, chair of Rugby Canada’s Hall of Fame project team, said in a statement.

“Their skills as former international rugby players and match officials, administrators and leaders in the game, have made significant contributions to Canada’s place in the rugby world.”

Van der Merwe made marauding runs down the wing his specialty. But he also read the game well and was always a threat to intercept an opposition pass — with the speed and the gas tank to finish off the run.

Now 38, Van der Merwe was born and raised in Worcester, South Africa. His father, a doctor, brought his family of five to Saskatchewan in 2003 for a better future.

DTH shares his April 28 birthday and name — Daniel Tailliferre Hauman — with his father. His dad was called DTH until university but switched to Danny when he became a doctor.

The younger DTH joined the Regina Rogues rugby club as a 17-year-old, playing two games for the club one day after landing in the country.

He went on to play club rugby for Saracens and Newcastle in England, Glasgow Warriors (twice) in Scotland and the Los Angeles Giltinis in Major League Rugby. But he is best remembered for his time with Glasgow, scoring 54 tries in 123 appearances for Glasgow over eight seasons.

Van der Merwe scored many highlight-reel tries for Canada but the best may have come at the 2015 World Cup when he combined with Ciaran Hearn for a spectacular score against Italy that saw the winger fend off a string of would-be tacklers deep in the Canadian end after an Italy kickoff.

Van der Merwe had seen the Italians were narrow on their kickoff chase and told then-coach Kieran Crowley about the possibilities down the flank. Then he executed the vision.

While van der Merwe calls it his favourite try, he also has not forgotten that Italy rallied to win 23-18.

He retired from international rugby after the 2019 World Cup and called time on his club career three years later.

Evans, a prop, won 50 caps for Canada and played club rugby in England and Japan during a distinguished career that stretched from 1985 to 1999.

Fairhurst, a scrum half, also took part in three World Cups, winning 57 caps from 2001 to 2012 and also represented Canada at sevens. At club level, he spent two years with the Cardiff Blues in Wales and three with England’s Cornish Pirates.

Hutchinson, a bruising backrower, represented Canada at the 1995 and ’99 Rugby World Cups in a 50-cap international career that included a remarkable 40 consecutive test match appearances. His club career included four years in Japan playing for IBM and Suntory.

Mervin played in three World Cups in an international career that stretched from 2006 to 2017 and also represented Canada in sevens. She won 38 caps and, in 2015, was awarded the Gillian Florence Award (Rugby Canada Player’s Player Award).

Henry served on the National Referee Panel from 2004 to 2012 and officiated 16 test matches, including two World Cups (2006 and 2010). She was one of the first women to referee a men’s international match, taking charge of a Bermuda versus Bahamas test in 2011.

Hyde-Lay won three caps as a player, representing Canada at the 1987 World Cup, before embarking on a distinguished career as a match official.

McAuley won 21 caps for Canada from 1998 to 2007, also playing for the Canadian sevens side. She served as a director on the Rugby Canada board from 2003 to 2007 and as an assistant coach with the women’s team from 2012 to 2017.

After serving as president of the Ontario Rugby Union, Powers was vice-chair of Rugby Canada from 2003 to 2010 and was the governing body’s representative to the Canadian Olympic Committee from 2010 to 2016. Rugby Canada calls him a “pivotal figure in the development of rugby and sport governance in Canada.”

The Rugby Canada Hall of Fame’s inaugural class was in 2016.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press