Saracens line up World Cup winner Van Heerden to replace Hill

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Negotiations are understood to be at an advanced stage for the 29-year-old Blue Bulls star, who appeared in six of South Africa's seven matches in France last autumn, including the 36-0 rout of England in September and the last eight minutes of the final five weeks later.

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Captain courageous: Van Heerden won the World Cup with South Africa

Sarries hope Van Heerden, nicknamed Captain Courageous, will be their third Test signing following England lock Steve Borthwick from Bath and Wales No 8 Michael Owen from Newport.

That they have earmarked one of the most dynamic back-row forwards in South Africa to succeed Hill is another compliment to the retiring Englishman, who has been dogged by knee injuries.

Eddie Jones, the former Australia coach who takes over as Saracens' director of rugby next month, said: 'His performance against Munster on Sunday showed how much England have missed him for the last four years.'

The European Cup semi-finalists are also pursuing an ambitious bid, revealed in Sportsmail last week, to hijack All Black Daniel Carter's planned move to Toulon later this year.

Meanwhile, the Springboks are in a growing state of turmoil over the proposed switch by Bakkies Botha to Toulon as a replacement for his fellow Test lock, the Northampton-bound Victor Matfield.

The South African RU are refusing to release Botha from his Test contract and the player's lawyers have applied for the dispute to be heard in court.

Gavin Henson is set to miss Wales' tour to South Africa in June after being ruled out for the rest of the season. The Ospreys back will undergo surgery tomorrow to cure an ankle ligament injury sustained three weeks ago.

Ospreys coach Lyn Jones said: 'It's a blow for us and for Gavin. We expect him to be sidelined for up to six weeks.'