WP recruit Shadow
24 Oct 2011
WP have signed Bulls wing Gerhard van den Heever on a two-year contract.
Province and the Bulls officially confirmed the deal on Monday. The 22-year-old’s contract with the Pretoria union ends on 31st October, and he will make the move down to Cape Town in November.
‘We believe Van den Heever to be a quality player with the right attributes to fit into our set-up and vision for the immediate future,’ said WP senior professional coach Rassie Erasmus.
‘Despite his young age he brings solid experience at Super Rugby level. We have a settled base of senior players and a number of emerging young stars and we believe he has the potential to make a valuable contribution at a number of levels.’
Van den Heever made his senior debut in 2009, and played 41 provincial matches (20 tries) and 31 Super Rugby games (12 tries). The deal comes after the Bulls’ signings of WP wing JJ Engelbrecht, centre Johann Sadie and flyhalf Lionel Cronje.
322 Comments
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24 Oct 2011, 13:13 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-193: Arno Botha is even ahead of bonehead Burger, in the talent stakes.
24 Oct 2011, 13:13 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-193: he is not a hero, just a kid doing well in a chosen vocation. you think Hurdles is a “hero” in the barren vrystaat dorpies he come from?
24 Oct 2011, 13:14 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-196:
naka?
the husbands of Bloemfontein would certainly be believed.
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-190:
he must have put that bit in.
that’s what we used to call it at school
24 Oct 2011, 13:14 pm
This is utterley devastating… Pantofel in a Province jumper??/
Tac buddy why dont you join me in on a run up to the top of the Sierra Calderona and we can both jump off together…
24 Oct 2011, 13:17 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-202:
My reference point is that one boots and all show held in PE before the All Black test where they talked to the representatives of the black clubs in PE. Those guys were liberally singing the praises of Kolisi and seem to have massive expectations of him.
I merely took their words at face value.
24 Oct 2011, 13:18 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-203: You’re a trail-”blazer” then
It has some very funny moments. No Oscar moments, but some “guffaw” scenes for sure.
24 Oct 2011, 13:18 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-203: I’ll take Naka ahead of AC anyday of the week, at least Naka’s teams know how to score tries.
24 Oct 2011, 13:19 pm
grant10,
in clifton….
do have a lawn….
to mow?
or a place….
to wash your car?
this weekend…
8)
24 Oct 2011, 13:20 pm
Well, it seems like Heyneke went for a massive cleanup of the junior talent at Loftus:
Watermeyer off to the UK, Brummer released, Dippenaar shipped off to the Seven’s circuit, now vd Heever gone as well.
Interesting times.
24 Oct 2011, 13:21 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-209:
Manitz Bosshoff also transferred to Griquas.
24 Oct 2011, 13:21 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-206:
no no.
I think everybody called it that.
It’s funny for sure.
@RL(RL)-207:
pomp vir vrystaat.
24 Oct 2011, 13:21 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-209:
Yeah a wise man that. He got rid of all the dead wood and is buying decent talent from the Cape. Bright is always bright mate.
24 Oct 2011, 13:24 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-211: Yeah we may even have referred to it as that here too. Mostly just a “J” but any derivative of that too.
My favourite term is a “Zol”
Very Northern Suburbs.
24 Oct 2011, 13:25 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-209: it makes business sense, with the team hardly expected to make the super play-offs for the next few years and with the Loftus unfaithful set to turn their backs on tickets HM had no choice but to cut the fat.
24 Oct 2011, 13:26 pm
@charo(charo)-208:
he is washing JR and then taking him to the vet.
then he will be abusing Barney on facebook.
all in all a very busy arvie.
24 Oct 2011, 13:29 pm
@RL(RL)-214:
Shame man! Don’t knock a man when he is already down. How would you feel if your idol moves to the Bulls. That won’t happen but just a thought.
24 Oct 2011, 13:32 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-210: I hear rumors that Bradley Moolman is coming back to Lions country? You got anything on that?
24 Oct 2011, 13:34 pm
@Mighty Horua(Mighty Horua)-163:
because the might ” I CANT STEP ANYMORE ” JDV must start hahaha, province loose all youngsters and keep donkeys like him
24 Oct 2011, 13:35 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-193: Hou daai mannetjies dop Tac…. hou hul dop. Monster loosies daai!
Daar is huigiglik n skitterende positiewe gevoel hier by die Bulle – al het ons niks gedoen die jaar nie. Dit gaan nog ten minste 2 jaar vat maar die “roadmap” is gedoen en almal weet waar hul staan.
Houe gaan ons vat… maar ons gaan ook uitdeel!
24 Oct 2011, 13:37 pm
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-185:
koster is just plain down useless seriously
24 Oct 2011, 13:39 pm
It’s interesting to see that Heyneke is dumping his young players for new ones, but the problem starts a lot earlier. First, our coaches, at all levels, must dump this idea of our “traditional strengths” and concentrate on developing and encouraging the skills to go with, what is after all purely a physical attribute. Sure, we make them big and fast, in SA, but we also tend to make them a bit thick as well.
Below is an article (edited) from the BBC about why Kiwi rugby is so dominant. It makes interesting reading.
Since the start of Test rugby, the All Blacks have a win percentage of almost 75%. No-one else gets close. Not South Africa at 62%, nor France at 55%. Certainly not England, Australia or Wales with 53%, 52% and 51% respectively.
How has one small nation dominated the sport for so long? What makes New Zealanders so good at rugby? And why, World Cup wins aside, is that supremacy actually growing? Since Graham Henry took charge of the national team in 2004, New Zealand’s win percentage has climbed to a staggering 85%.
STARTING EARLY
Rugby grabs Kiwi kids young. Once it has a hold, it’s not allowed to let go. Buck Anderson, former All Black, rugby teacher and coach, now heads the New Zealand Rugby Football Union’s heavily funded community programmes. “Everything we do is about four key skills: catch, pass, run and evade,” says Anderson.
A few years ago, Anderson found that 90% of primary school teachers in the country are female. Surveys showed that even those who enjoyed watching rugby were reluctant to teach it, partly for fear of kids getting hurt and partly because the rules are so complex.
The answer: Rippa Rugby, a non-contact, small-sided version of the game that can be played anywhere, by kids as young as three years old. Every single primary school in New Zealand has a grass playing field. After a five-year campaign, every primary school in the country also has a Rippa Rugby kit and instruction DVD.
“We’ve had year-on-year growth in the number of primary school kids playing rugby, and Rippa Rugby has been a really big driver in that,” says Anderson. “The landscape for the hearts and souls of kids today is very competitive. There’s an incredible range of opportunities out there for them. We had to ask ourselves how we could make rugby as easy to play and as fun as possible.”
DEVELOPING FAST
Once bitten by the bug, kids are fed through a carefully designed series of programmes, starting at the age of five with the ingeniously named Small Blacks. “We try to line up the skills required with the ability of the kids to perform those skills,” says Anderson.
Between the ages of five and seven, there are no set pieces, no tackling and no kicking. Aged eight onwards, defence skills are introduced – “We teach them to watch the hips, not the ball or the feet; where the hips go, the player follows” – with non-pushing scrums, catching above the head to develop line-out skills and limited post-tackle drills. The pitch is still small while the ball is no bigger than a size three.
Only from 11 do kids take part in 15-a-side games – and even then it is all about ball in hand. Penalties result in possession being handed over, rather than kicks at goal.
PUSHING ON HARD
Rugby is taught in both state and private schools. The quality of coaching there, as my colleague Ben Dirs found out when he visited Rotorua Boys’ High a few weeks ago, is both impressive and prioritised. But the education system is only one part of the rugby development programme.
Kel Victor is president of the prestigious High School Old Boys club in Christchurch, which has produced 30 All Blacks in its 110-year history, including Justin Marshall, Andrew Mehrtens, Aaron Mauger and Dan Carter.
“We have kids here from three years old,” he says. “They play Canter rugby, which is like touch rugby – no tackling allowed, teams of no more than 10, a point for a try. There is a much bigger emphasis on running the ball rather than kicking it. That structure is bred into them – get the wingers involved, get the full-backs running into the backline.
“The standard in the club game is very high. There are 12 teams in the metropolitan region and another union in the country region. Six of them are very strong, with not much difference between them. It’s very competitive and helps develop good players.”
THE CULTURE
The grip that rugby has on the national psyche has waned at times over the years, never more so than when an All Blacks team hosted an apartheid-era Springboks touring team in 1981. The success of the national football team, the All Whites, at the last World Cup also loosened rugby’s grip – but only slightly and only briefly.
“Traditionally, there has been a fundamental insecurity in New Zealand national identity,” says Professor Bruce. “We are constantly searching for who we are and where we are in the world. Sport is one of very few places where New Zealand has excelled on the world stage and so our internationally successful athletes always get a high level of publicity.”
Victor, part of the Old Boys’ club for over 50 years, agrees. “Rugby has a huge niche in a small nation here,” he says. “It dominates all other sports. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows an All Black. The best thing you can be is a rugby success. If you’re a good player, careers open up in other fields.”
Turn on the television on a Saturday morning and there, on the free-to-air TV2, is a programme called Small Blacks TV. It speaks volumes for the continued place of the All Blacks in the affection of the nations.
Current wing Richard Kahui demonstrates healthy eating in an item called Cooking With Kaks, Conrad Smith reads the latest news with the tagline ‘Stay onside, New Zealand.’ Piri Weepu presents Maori lessons in A Word With Piri, while Dan Carter teaches tricks in DC Skills. The final segment? A game of ‘Who’s Brainier – All Black or Small Black?’
THE BIG STUFF
So much for the finer detail. When you look up from the research and history books at the physical environment around you, it’s hard to miss what’s staring you in the face.
“Our climate and landscape is so conducive to kids running around,” says Anderson. “Most houses have a back yard where a kid can fling a ball around and every town or village has open green fields. That’s a major advantage for us.”
Stroll around any New Zealand town and you soon notice something very striking to British eyes. Where kids back home will be kicking a football around, or a tennis ball, or even a squashed-up drinks can, Kiwi children will have a rugby ball in their hands.
“That constant playing with the ball as a child is often how you learn the key skills in the game,” says Anderson. “Kids walking home from school will be trying new passes or skills to impress their mates. You go to the park or the beach in New Zealand, and the first game everyone will play is touch rugby.
“New Zealand is also blessed with a wonderful genetic mix for rugby. In addition to the European influence, you can add in the size and attitude of the Maori and now the speed and power of the Polynesian islanders.”
THE FUTURE
All is not entirely rosy in the Kiwi garden, however. There is, for example, a high drop-off rate once players get to their late teens. “We can’t take anything for granted,” admits Anderson. “We’re a country of just four million people and we need to attract the top sporting talent – give them the skills and keep them in the game.”
Other nations have detailed kids’ development structures. Some have a flourishing professional club structure. Others have big-name players who are huge stars, recognised wherever they go. But only one country has everything that those rivals have – and that 75% win ratio on top.
24 Oct 2011, 13:50 pm
@David(David)-221:
gosh, very instructive.
24 Oct 2011, 13:53 pm
@seabiscuit(seabiscuit)-220: Open you farken eyes, Koster is a future bok…
24 Oct 2011, 14:04 pm
@Staal(Staal)-219: Jy klink nou soos Loffie Eloff.
24 Oct 2011, 14:04 pm
Sayonara Mossie.
24 Oct 2011, 14:08 pm
@David(David)-221: Very interesting.
24 Oct 2011, 14:09 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-225: Que?
24 Oct 2011, 14:10 pm
@staal. Kan nie wag vir o21 en o19 finaal nie. Die bulle het vir die 1ste keer in jare uitstaande talent in die ouderdomsgroepe. Ek het net gehoop goosen teken ook, maar hy het gedink hy gaan nie speelkans kry nie. Fouche en Steyn is darem nie sleg nie.
24 Oct 2011, 14:11 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-225: ??
24 Oct 2011, 14:13 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-227:
Gone to Japan for their season. Panasonic Wild Knights.
Only for 1 season as I understand it. Will be back some time during next years S15, depending if his side make the finals or not.
24 Oct 2011, 14:16 pm
This kid needs to be developed into a fullback. It is a position I hoped WP would start using Lionel in because Jantjes is (has been) on his last leg for too long now but alas, it will have to be Shadow.
Just work on his kicking a bit and he could make number 15 his own.
24 Oct 2011, 14:16 pm
@John Galt(John Galt)-230: That’s not ideal.
So he comes back overcooked and most likely injured. He can’t play a full 18 months with no break. Not him especially.
This doesn’t bode well personally.
We have JDJ but after him we have very little.
24 Oct 2011, 14:20 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-224: Ek waarborg jou ek hettie daai man se lyf nie!
24 Oct 2011, 14:21 pm
Wonder if Grant10 knows Jaque Fourie is moving to Japan in November, I await his reaction in anticipation
24 Oct 2011, 14:22 pm
Oh dam and here i thought i was dishing out breaking news !!!!!!!!
24 Oct 2011, 14:23 pm
So the Province backs are escaping like truckloads of Mexican border hoppers. Must be the calming influence of our future Bok coach.
24 Oct 2011, 14:24 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-232:
keeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrching.
24 Oct 2011, 14:24 pm
@Treehugger(Treehugger)-235: Sorry hugsy, but we are (only just) ahead of you
24 Oct 2011, 14:27 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-237: Yip, for sure, but it may shorten his career by a season, or even more if he gets injured.
It’s one thing being peter Grant and not playing CC or any Bok duties but in Jaque’s case he’s had a very busy year.
Oy Vey!
24 Oct 2011, 14:28 pm
Panasonic Wild Nights?
No curfew there then.
24 Oct 2011, 14:33 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-239:
If I were a Stormers supporter I’d be happier that he was going to Japan for a short term money grab than to the UK or France for a longer period.
Straight after a WC and at his age, he has to start thinking about the benjamins and this is probably the best way to go about it.
I dont reckon Japan will be too taxing on the body. To me, the only risk is that he comes back as half the player, ala P Grant and that other clown from the Bulls, forget his name.
24 Oct 2011, 14:34 pm
Good luck Shadow. You will be missed at Loftus. With the stiff competition for places you will probably get more game time at a smaller union. Lets hope your career developes and that they don’t ruine it like they did with Habana and Dillon des Fountaine.
24 Oct 2011, 14:37 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-240: All the Karaoke you want!
24 Oct 2011, 14:37 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-239:
he is only 28.
having his cake and eating it.
24 Oct 2011, 14:39 pm
@John Galt(John Galt)-241: Isn’t he contracted until the end of next year? We could have put our foot down and said no. I would have.
This “let them go if the want to” attitude of WP isn’t very professional if you ask me. We let Joe Petersen go early “because he asked nicely”, the Peter Grant story as well, now Jaques.
Ai Khona.
That’s not the way it works.
24 Oct 2011, 14:40 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-244: Flied Lice.
24 Oct 2011, 14:41 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-238: I got it from ruggaworld, they always have the latest new, didnt know which story to go with first, the froggies also b*tching about the reffing or this one
………….
24 Oct 2011, 14:42 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-245:
Rassie is responsible for contracting/ buying and selling of players etc what the fark is he doing ???
24 Oct 2011, 14:44 pm
I don’t think that Mossie is thinking with his head, WTF Japan …. does he not read the news, that place is a nuclear wasteland! Radiation wherever you go.
Now Mossie, if you comeback with a blue glowing tongue you will know why.
24 Oct 2011, 14:44 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-246: Try watch 50/50 tonight.
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