Gerhard van den Heever

Gerhard van den Heever's story is the part of rugby I find most interesting: the journeyman wing who finds a second home far from where he started. Born in Bloemfontein and shaped at Pretoria, he ended up plying his trade in Japan with the Sunwolves and Kubota Spears. I have a soft spot for players who back themselves to cross hemispheres and adapt to a totally different rugby culture, because that takes more than pace on the wing. He may not be a household name, but to me he represents the global bloodstream of the sport, and the Japanese league has been richer for importing talent like him.

Name (English)

Gerhard van den Heever

Name (Japanese)

ゲラード・ファンデンヒーファー

Reading

げらーど・ふぁんでんひーふぁー

Born

April 13, 1989 (age 37)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Snake

Origin

Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa

Occupation

rugby union player

University

University of Pretoria

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B2%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%87%E3%83%B3%E3%83%92%E3%83%BC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%BC

Tags

• Free State
• rugby union player

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.