Getting To Know Gerhard Van Den Heever

South African Gerhard van den Heever arrived in Munster back in November and opened his try-scoring account with Munster A last weekend.

The flying winger, nicknamed ‘shadow’ for his searing pace, had the Nottingham defence chasing shadows twice last Friday night as he touched down his first tries for the province.

The game was played at St. Mary’s RFC in Limerick, a venue that Van den Heever thoroughly enjoyed playing in.

“I liked the pitch in Mary’s, it was a real nice place to play and we had some good support there, everybody was really friendly next to the field cheering us on.

“I like the closeness of the Munster fans and it feels like they’re right behind you on the field and that makes it much more enjoyable to play in.”

The Bloemfontein native injured his hand on his Munster debut against Newport Gwent Dragons but, despite that early setback, the 24-year-old has settled well in Ireland.

“It wasn’t a nice start,” said Van den Heever.

“It wasn’t the start I wanted to make with Munster but I went through it and it’s 100 percent now and it’s not holding me back anymore.

“The guys have been really great to me and taken me out on a few nights to have some dinner so it’s been really good.

“It’s very nice, although the weather is getting a bit cold now but it’s not as bad as I expected it to be!

“I’m living in a house near Limerick that’s 3-5 minutes from the university so it’s really close to training,” he added.

Van den Heever signed a two-year contract with Munster in July but had to wait four months before he could join the squad as he finished the Currie Cup season with Western Province – they were beaten finalists.

The versatile back, who can play on the wing, at full-back and in the centre used his time to find out more about the province.

“My fiancé’s dad knows a lot about Munster and I was keeping up-to-date with the website.

“Every second day and after each weekend I would go on the website and watch the highlights of the matches and the photos of the players and the training fields and keeping up to date with them,” he said.

The two-time Currie Cup winner is expected to be named in Peter Malone’s A squad for the trip to Stirling on Saturday. A win would secure a place in the last eight and Van den Heever is expecting a tricky encounter.

“I think it’s going to be a very tight match, it depends on how we look at the game and how our mindset is but it’s a massive game.”

Munster A travel to Stirling Albion on Saturday with a 2pm kick-off, you can follow live updates here.