Boks star van der Merwe gets back to basics with Leinster

Heinke van der Merwe returned from international duty earlier this week keen to add to his list of caps with South Africa but first priority for the Springbok will be finding a spot in Leinster’s front row.

The European champions had six front rowers playing Test rugby this last three weeks with van der Merwe, Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Sean Cronin and Michael Bent all featuring consistently over the November period.

Few teams could cope with such a drain of personnel in one sector, not to mention such a key one, but Leinster’s resources were there to see last weekend when the senior side claimed a 6-0 win in Scotstoun and the A side took care of business in the Sportsground against Connacht.