Since moving to the DHL Stormers from the Exeter Chiefs in 2023 on a short-term deal, bulldozing lock Ruben van Heerden has certainly found his happy place at the Cape Town-based rugby franchise.
This coming weekend, when the Stormers take on Connacht in a United Rugby Championship game at DHL Stadium, Van Heerden will get the special honour of running out first for his 50th cap.
At the ripe young age of 26, the second-row forward can be described as a journeyman of sorts, having started out his professional career at the Vodacom Bulls in 2016 and after representing the franchise’s youth teams as a former scholar at the Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies).
Finding his feet
The former SA Schools and Junior Springbok then made a move to the Hollywoodbets Sharks in 2018 in the hopes of getting regular game time at the Durban-based franchise.
Although he amassed more than a half century of caps for the Durbanites in Currie Cup and franchise rugby, the 2m tall 118kg lock found it hard to nail down a regular starting berth.
An opportunity to grow as player overseas then came knocking as Van Heerden signed with the Exeter Chiefs in 2022, but still the Alberton born player had not found his happy place and after just 14 games for the English club, then Chiefs director of rugby, Rob Baxter, decided to let Van Heerden sign a short-term deal with the John Dobson coached Stormers.
The move turned out to be an instant hit for Van Heerden and Stormers fans as he helped the side reach a second consecutive URC Grand Final, albeit losing to Munster in Cape Town. With Van Heerden signing on to the Stormers up until the end of the 2027 season.
New Home Away From Home
And of his time at the Stormers and Cape Town becoming his new home and reaching a half century of caps, Van Heerden tells TelecomAsia Sport:
It’s been brilliant [since the move from Exeter Chiefs. Back then in my mind I never thought that I would come to the Stormers and I guess that is just the way things worked out.
Since I have been with the Stormers my game has grown lots, I think I’ve learned a lot under the coaching here. I have settled in Cape Town and I am enjoying it and personally I am just looking forward to building on my career here at the Stormers.
There is still a lot we can achieve as a team over the next two years and I am loving every minute of being at the Stormers.
Van Heerden: Milestone Celebrations Can Wait
When he gets the special honor of running out first on Saturday, Van Heerden however, wants himself and his team to remember what the actual task at hand will be when they tackle Connacht in a must-win encounter in front of the Stormers faithful.
Playing 50 games for a franchise as proud as the Stormers is a privilege and an honour. I am looking forward to Saturday, but I do feel it is not a time for me to focus on personal accolades. This game [against Connacht] should not be about me.
I think we are in a position where – much like Connacht – we are trying to fight our way into the top eight of the URC. We are under no illusion that Connacht are going to come out firing and it’s going to be a very tough game.
Stormers Chasing Maximum Points
The overall feeling in the group is that we know we are such a good team. We know what we are capable of doing, we also have some sort of a perspective around games that we narrowly lost this season – where if things just worked out slightly differently the log [position] would have looked a lot differently.
We can’t change that now as we only have four games left, so we are looking forward to the opportunity we have left in these next four games, and we know exactly what we need to do, and that is to get maximum points.
