The excellent Van der Merwe, whose surging runs and six tries have defined Scotland’s supremacy in the fixture in recent years, gave England an unwelcome reminder of his talents inside five minutes.
After Ollie Sleightholme had kicked away possession to Blair Kinghorn, the powerhouse wing scorched outside Ollie Lawrence, drawing the England cover. Quick hands then released Tom Jordan down the line and the Bristol-bound centre slung a superb inside pass to put White in.
White celebrated the opening try long and loud in front of a silenced north stand, but the home team found a swift response.
They went straight down the other end and a spell of pressure and repeated short-range thrusts ended with wing Tommy Freeman plunging over the line, with the officials confident of a grounding that looked uncertain on television replays.
It was, however, a rare foray into Scotland territory.
The visitors headed to the tunnel having entered the opposition 22m eight times, with England only managing to get into the danger zone twice.
The pilfering of back-row twins Tom and Ben Curry and England’s scrum supremacy, combined with some Scottish inaccuracy, kept the scoreline from having a similarly lop-sided look.
Jones added a try before the break, giving Scotland a 10-7 lead, as Kinghorn and Van der Merwe combined once more, finding angles, offloads and open field out wide.
Having been penned back for the majority of the match, England sprung forward thrillingly on the final play of the half as Lawrence rampaged through midfield and fed Marcus Smith.
With Freeman free on his inside, Smith couldn’t find a pass and was snared by a covering Van der Merwe. On the next phase, Lawrence’s ambitious offload landed over the advertising hoardings rather than in Sleightholme’s hands.
