Province go shopping in Pretoria

Bulls wing Gerhard van den Heever has transferred to Western Province, having fallen out of favour with the selectors in Pretoria.

The 22-year-old has signed a two-year deal with the Cape Town side in the latest deal between the two unions, with JJ Engelbrecht, Johann Sadie and Lionel Cronjé all moving in the opposite direction.

Van den Heever was contracted to the Bulls until October 31, 2013, but after successful negotiations between the two provinces, has been transferred to Western Province and will join them from November 1, 2011.

Van den Heever, who was born in Bloemfontein and schooled in Pretoria, made his provincial and Super Rugby debuts in 2009.

He has 41 provincial caps (20 tries) and 31 Super Rugby caps (12 tries) to his credit. However, he has struggled of late and hardly featured in the Currie Cup this season despite the absense of the Springboks.

Heyneke Meyer, Head of Rugby at the Bulls, commented on the move by saying: "I am happy that there is an opportunity for Gerhard in a very good environment. It's a coincidence that he will now play for the team that he made his debut against in 2009. We wish him good luck with his career and we truly hope that he will achieve his goals."

Meyer's counterpart at WP, Rassie Erasmus, added: "We are happy that after we were able to conclude a similar transfer deal with the Bulls for the in-contract Lionel Cronjé earlier this season, that we were then able to successfully conclude this negotiation.

"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. 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."