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.

“I wasn’t happy at the start because I broke my hand and it wasn’t the start I really wanted and I struggled in a few games,” he said. “I didn’t play the rugby I wanted.

“The last few games I’ve got a lot of ball carries and a I got a lot of gain lines so I was chuffed with the last couple of games and I can only get better from here.”

That is certainly the view of Munster head coach Rob Penney, who this week said: “He’s going to be a terrific footballer. He’s shown a lot more than we expected. We were happy when we recruited him as a longer term, medium term prospect. He’s been given some really clear work-ons a lot like we did with CJ [Stander, van den Heever’s fellow South African import]. You have got to earn the right to get the jersey on, you can’t just be given it.

“He’s done some things in games of late that are indicators of where he can get to and he’s just got to progress. He can be a fantastic player for a long time given his age profile and given his athleticism. He may be frustrated to a degree, but he’s just got to put consistent performances in and the rewards will come.”

The adjustments needed to be made for a new life at Munster have stretched beyond the rugby field and van den Heever, who will return to South Africa at the end of the season to get married, joked that the biggest adaptation was “wearing a lot more clothes for the weather.

“No, Munster is a very professional set-up and I think you come to realise that when you walk into changing rooms and especially the gym in the mornings. The professionalism of the physios and the doctors and everybody is focused on getting the best performances out of the players and they really look after the players’ bodies.”

Playing for Ireland rather than the Springboks is more than just a pipe dream for van den Heever, who said he was enjoying the style of rugby Munster are playing.

“I think the ultimate goal for me is to qualify be a player to be accepted in the Ireland squad, I think that’s the main goal for me and I think it’s just a bigger future here for me in Ireland.

“To come and play the rugby with the guys that are playing here, it’s an expansive game for the weather we play in so it’s exciting rugby each week and it’s not just trucking-up rugby. It’s testing the guys’ skills and bringing out the best of you that you can be as a player.”

The next test for van den Heever is a provincial derby with Ulster and he said: “We’re playing at Thomond Park so it’s unacceptable for us to lose here.”

The boy’s a fast learner.