Frederick Johannes 'Fritz' van Heerden (born 29 June 1970) is a former South African rugby union player who played international rugby for the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, making his debut on 4 June 1994 in Pretoria against the England touring side. Van Heerden played rugby with Western Province and

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its ho ...

Playing career

Van Heerden matriculated at Roodepoort High School in 1988 and represented at the annual Craven Week tournament in 1988. In 1991 he enrolled for a law degree at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and represented Maties on the rugby field. He made his senior provincial debut in July 1991, when he replaced the injured

Gert Smal Gert Petrus Smal (born 27 December 1961, Kimberley, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player and assistant coach of the South African and Irish national rugby union teams. He is currently the forwards coach at Japanese Top Lea ...

, in the team. In 1996 he was named the Western Province captain. He joined Leicester Tigers in 1997, following fellow South African

Joel Stransky Joel Theodore Stransky (born 16 July 1967) is a South African former rugby union player. A fly-half, he is known for scoring all of South Africa's points, including the winning drop goal, against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final ...

, and joining up with Martin Johnson, and replacing Matt Poole who acquired a knee injury at about the same time with Dean Richards (normally a number eight) playing lock. Also able to play flanker, he complemented Johnson's more powerful play with mobility, but perhaps more importantly he pioneered the contesting of the opposition's line-out throws. He returned to South Africa in 1999 to try to play for his country in the 1999 World Cup, and was drafted into the side late as a replacement for

Selborne Boome Christopher Selborne Boome (born 16 April 1975) is a South African former professional rugby union player who has made 20 appearances for the South African national rugby union team, the Springboks. He represented Northampton Saints and Mon ...

, playing against Spain. After the World Cup, he returned to Leicester where he helped in the development of England lock

Ben Kay Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is a retired English international rugby union footballer who played Second row forward for Leicester Tigers and . Background Kay was born in Liverpool, the only son of Lord Justice of Appeal Si ...

. He retired.

Test history

References

External links

Scrum.com

Planet-rugby.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Heerden, Fritz 1970 births Living people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Western Province (rugby union) players Stellenbosch University alumni Rugby union players from Gauteng Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks

Playing career

Test history

See also

References

External links