Career
His regular position is winger. Youth and amateur rugby
Van der Merwe represented the Boland U21 side in the 2006 and 2007 editions of the Under-21 Provincial Championship. He then played club rugby for local amateur side Robertson until 2011.
Boland Cavaliers
In 2012, he was included in the Boland Cavaliers squad for the 2012 Vodacom Cup.
After one more appearance off the bench in their next match against the Free State XV, he made his first senior start against the other team from the Western Cape in the competition, the SWD Eagles. Boland eventually finished sixth to miss out on a semi-final play-off berth, with Van der Merwe making eleven appearances.
He played in three of Boland"s matches during the 2013 Vodacom Cup competition and also kept up his knack of scoring against the Eastern Province Kings, but ended on the losing side on all three occasions as his side finished bottom of the Southern Section. They performed slightly better in the 2013 Currie Cup First Division, finishing fifth and just outside a semi-final spot.
Van der Merwe made six starts, played off the bench on two occasions and scored two tries in their 20–7 victory over the Falcons in Round Four of the competition.
He didn"t represent Boland Cavaliers in provincial competition in 2014, but did return in the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition, starting their 10–25 defeat to Western Province in Caledon in their opening match of the competition.
