The Blue Bulls announced today that Western Province have signed winger/fullback Gerhard van den Heever.
Van den Heever seems a direct replacement for JJ Engelbrecht who along with his close friend, the highly rated Johann Sadie will be going in the other direction. I think most of us would agree that the Bulls are definitely the big winners here as both Sadie and JJ have been in top form this season as opposed to van den Heever who has been struggling with form.
Van den Heever had an exceptional 2010 rugby season and was very close to being selected for the Boks but ultimately lost out to Gio Aplon’s game breaking skills during that very same season.
The 22 year old will join WP on 1 November 2011 and has signed a two year deal.
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Oh goodie. 🙄
I suppose ‘Welcome to Province’ is in order!! 😕
@wpw (Comment 1) : what a warm welcome 😛
Hows about signing a few of the Pumas props?
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 3) :
+1
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 3) : they to butch for province they like them soft in the cape
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 3) : Do we need props??? 🙄 😉
Better than JJ and hope he will flourish at wp, an underated talent
@Talent (Comment 7) : are you mad?
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 3) : too late… the Bulls already got the good one (Dawie Steyn)
Bwahahahaha !!!
Shame man, province grasping at straws now!
@robdylan (Comment 9) : Hell I’ll take that super fat oke.Thing is the props at WP are seriously young, Malherbe is about 22 and Kitchoff, well, he is young and has no soul.
Come to think of it, send Jimmy Stonehouse to prop for WP, did you see that dude in person?His surname is very fitting.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 11) : you know that Jimmy was a pro bodybuilder and once won Mr South Africa? I mean the REAL Mr South Africa, not the gay modelling contest.
Ja, ou Ashley Buys sure is one big hunk of man…
Vd Heever was contracted to the Bulls until 2013.
Good on them for releasing the guy to go elsewhere.
as for WP signing him? WTH were they thinking?
@robdylan (Comment 12) : Didn’t know that but don’t doubt it for a second.Dude can lay down a proper chokehold with those guns.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 13) : Lets play this game as if Fester vd Merwe is in charge.
@robdylan (Comment 8) : yes.
Not bad this guy, not bad at all. He is tall and fast like JJ but is much more balanced runner. JJ will do well at the bulls their style of play will suit him.
@robdylan (Comment 8) :
I’m not too pleased with JJ leaving but ‘Shadow’ has SR experience and has potential.
JJ hasn’t played SR yet. Having said that I’m sure he’ll do well at that level. 😕
@Talent (Comment 7) : Agreed. I really hope Jacques Nienaber can help improve his defence.
hahaha 😆
So it’s a straight swop then. Who’s better, JJ or van den heever.
I can not believe this i am totally gutted 🙁 van den heever has the potential to be a classy full back.
Forget the defensive issues nienaber can sort that out he has gas to burn.
@Muzi (Comment 20) : Don’t need him you guys already have a world class FB in Zane Kirscner! 🙄 😆
Please take into account when assessing who is better ,JJ or van der Heever , that JJ has a massive blind-spot due to that twitch .For me ,van der Heever is better .
@Letgo (Comment 19) : You read my mind.
Take vd Heever at his best vs JJ at his best and based on what I’ve see of both at junior and senior level, I’d have to say that vd Heever is the better player.
However on current form, my answer wud have to be JJ
Vd Heever could find more opportunity with ball in hand at WP, but the history of speedsters like Nokwe, Chavanga and Habana suggests not.
A pretty good player with time on his hands, but lacks physical presence in my opinion.
JJ had less pace and guile, but offered more strength and physicality. I’d call it honours even between WP and the Bulls.
i have a bb suporter here and he is laughing his ass of over this, we made the same st-id mistake last year swoping Andries for MB, wow have we missed that guy this year…
@Muzi (Comment 20) : hey mate, you have become the typical bb supporter the last few weeks, thought you were different in the beginning, and dont loose sleepless nights over this swop….. JJ gonna be the next big thing, watch you’ll see….
@Franshark (Comment 25) : If you look at Strauss’ career alongside Bosman’s, you’d have to say that on paper at least, we made a good deal.
Strauss owed the Sharks big time for being a mediocre player all those years and the end stages of 2010 was the payback time. Great defender but he still offers a team close to zip going forward imho.
Bosman seems to have mobility issues when it comes to closing down attackers who are a step up from what we’ve seen at CC level this season. Whether he’s able to correct this flaw, I have my doubts but time will tell.
I still think that weighing up the pros and cons, Bosman’s better than Strauss tho.