Los Angeles Giltinis has D.T.H (Daniel Talliferre Hauman) Van der Merwe back for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The 35-year-old wing/center/fullback (36 in April) is 6’0″ (1.83m) and 215 lbs.
DTH played 964 minutes in 13 matches, starting 12, and scored an MLR league-high 11 tries for the Giltinis in 2021. He also played with the Miami Sun in the inaugural 2020 World Ten Series in Bermuda prior to the 2021 MLR season.
DTH was born in Worcester, South Africa, and played rugby since he was five years old. He was selected to the Boland U16s squad and played prior to him and his family emigrating to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 2003.
He attended Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School, played on the Saskatchewan U18s and U21s, and then in the Prairie Fire in the defunct Rugby Canada Super League. He then moved to Victoria and played with James Bay Athletic Association from 2005-2009 in the British Columbia Premier League. The team won three consecutive provincial championships from 2006 through 2008 and won the National Championship in 2007.
DTH then played professionally for the English Premiership Saracens during the 2007-2008 season, making one appearance before an ankle injury sidelined him for 18 months. From 2009-2015 he played with the Glasgow Warriors in the PRO Rugby 12, making 96 appearances and scoring 215 points.
From 2015-2017 he played with the Scarlets in Wales, making 41 appearances and scoring 100 points. Then it was back to the English Premiership with the Newcastle Falcons, playing in three matches and scoring one try. From 2018-2020 he returned to the source of his greatest success, playing 20 more times and scoring 45 points. He is the all-time try scorer for the Warriors with 52 tries in 116 appearances.
DTH has been a Senior National Team stalwart for Canada since making his debut against Barbados at Bridgetown on 24 June 2006. He has 61 caps and 190 points and has played in four Rugby World Cups in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. During the first three of them, he has scored tries. He was hoping for a fourth and came close, but his last test turned out to be against South Africa at Kobe on 8 October 2019. The team was slated to play against Namibia, however, Typhoon Hagibis created havoc for the city of Kamaishi with its rain, wind, and landslides and the match was canceled. Instead, the team helped with the cleanup efforts in the city and DTH retired from international competition.
In 2021 DTH will turn to help a new team, the LA Giltinis, which will be playing their inaugural MLR season.
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