Van den Heever: I can only get better

It has been a frustrating start to life in northern hemisphere rugby for the 25-year-old, a double Currie Cup winner who turned his back on Super Rugby with the Bulls to sign on with Munster as a project player, looking to qualify for Ireland at the end of the three-year contract he began late last October.

A broken bone in his hand was a painful reminder of his Munster debut in a league win over the Dragons in Newport on November 24 and as van den Heever prepares to face Ulster in the final RaboDirect Pro12 game of the regular season tomorrow at Thomond Park, he feels he is only now settling in to the rhythm of his new team’s rugby.