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| Full name | Gerhard Jacobus van den Heever | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 13 April 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bloemfontein, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 105 kg (16.5 st; 231 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gerhard Jacobus van den Heever (born 13 April 1989) is a South African-born Japanese rugby union player for the Sunwolves in Super Rugby and Kubota Spears in the Top League. His regular playing position is as a wing.
Van den Heever attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, known as Affies), in Pretoria — a school that produced several sports stars such as Bulls players Derick Kuun, Pierre Spies and Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Titans cricketers AB de Villiers, Heino Kuhn and Faf du Plessis. He played in the University Seven's Rugby World Championships for the University of Pretoria. [1]
In early 2010, Van den Heever inherited Bryan Habana's number 11 shirt in the Bulls team after Habana's departure for the Stormers; Van den Heever is said to be even quicker than Habana. [2] [3]
On 24 October 2011, Van den Heever left the Bulls to join the Stormers and Western Province. [4]
Van den Heever agreed to join Irish side Munster on a two-year contract after the 2013 Currie Cup Premier Division. [5] He arrived in Cork to join up with Munster on 5 November 2013. [6] He made his debut for Munster on 29 November 2013, starting against Newport Gwent Dragons in the Pro12, but sustained a broken bone in his hand during the game. [7] [8] [9] Van den Heever scored his first try for Munster in their 54–13 win against Cardiff Blues on 8 February 2014. [10] He was added to Munster's 2013–14 Heineken Cup squad on 20 March 2014. [11] He made his Heineken Cup debut on 5 April 2014, coming on against Toulouse in Munster's quarter-final. In May 2016, it was announced that Van den Heever would be leaving Munster. [12]
After leaving Munster, Van den Heever played for Japanese Top League side Yamaha Júbilo from 2016 to early 2018. [13]
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