Duhan van der Merwe’s British & Irish Lions Test hopes look all but over, despite impressive stats on paper.

The Lions wrap up their Australian tour with a dead-rubber Test in Adelaide on Saturday. The expectation is that coach Andy Farrell could give some of his heavy-hitters a rest, with some of the fringe players getting a start. But even with that possible scenario, it looks unlikely that Van der Merwe will make the cut.

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According to an opinion piece on The Telegraph, the South African-born wing has failed to convince the coaching staff that he’s more than a one-dimensional threat. The publication says Van der Merwe’s downward trend started after ankle surgery in April. He looked off the pace in his return against Argentina and followed that up with a mixed performance against the Reds – showcasing his trademark power running, but exposing his frailty under the high ball and in defensive positioning.

His last outing, a late bench call-up against the Waratahs, further underlined his struggle to make an impact. A messy final play summed up his tour: powerful but predictable, dangerous with ball in hand but too often caught out tactically.

Despite leading the tour in tries and metres gained, his defensive lapses and limited versatility may see him left out of the 23 once again, with Blair Kinghorn and a fit-again Mack Hansen ahead in the pecking order.

For the Lions, there’s only one more thing to achieve in Australia and that’s to leave with a 3-0 series win and a 9-0 tour. You have to go back to Argentina in 1927 to find the last time the Lions won every game in a multi-Test series.

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