Frederick Johannes 'Fritz' van Heerden (born 29 June 1970) is a former South African rugby union player who played international rugby for the Springboks, making his debut on 4 June 1994 in Pretoria against the England touring side.
Van Heerden matriculated at Roodepoort High School in 1988 and represented Transvaal at the annual Craven Week tournament in 1988.
He made his senior provincial debut in July 1991, when he replaced the injured Gert Smal, in the Western Province team.
[2][3] He joined Leicester Tigers in 1997, following fellow South African Joel Stransky, 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.
After the World Cup, he returned to Leicester where he helped in the development of England lock Ben Kay.