Pienaar shines in Tigers torture
14 Jan 2012
Ruan Pienaar kicked 21 points in Ulster’s 41-7 European Cup victory over Leicester at Ravenhill.
The Springbok scrumhalf’s five penalties and three conversions topped a mature all-round performance in a win that puts Ulster in a strong position to qualify automatically for the quarter-final.
The Tigers will need a bonus-point victory over Italian minnows Aironi at Welford Road next week to give themselves any chance in the race for two best runners-up spots, yet teams in other pools appear better placed.
Meanwhile, Frans Steyn’s Racing Metro were downed 27-24 in Paris thanks to a last-minute drop goal from Edinburgh’s Phil Goodman. The momentum of the match swung consistently, with Steyn, playing inside centre, contributing a 23rd minute try. However, Goodman intervened just as it appeared the spoils would be shared. The win keeps the Scottish side top of the table and in the hunt to progress to their first quarter-final in eight years.
In Friday’s other match, the Ospreys kept the pressure up on pool-topping Saracens with a comfortable 44-17 win over Benetton Treviso.
30 Comments
14 Jan 2012, 07:05 am
With the Irish imposing limited international quota’s their recent 2yr extension and wage increase for Ruan Pienaar was right on the money!
The dragon just keeps on winning games for them!
14 Jan 2012, 07:11 am
With RSA’s dire lock situation they’re going to need 5/2 splits with extra blind-sider hybrids more than ever to compensate… and with that the need for utility 9′s and another utility back to cover the rest… there is no 9 in RSA that is currently better than RP in that respect!
14 Jan 2012, 07:25 am
@bryce_in_oz-2: “dire lock situation” What do you mean?
14 Jan 2012, 07:36 am
Ruan Pienaar was done a bit of a dirty when he was dropped for Morne Steyn in that 1st Lions test 2009 and his Springbok career took a dive from there, his 2 missed kicks were close but just wide and he was summarily yanked off with his confidence pretty much shattered.. Now with some consistent confidence building him up he is happy performing and producing the goods at Ulster.
With a little more patience and less paranoia the Boks could have had the same result with this versatile player at pivot / 9, instead they panicked and Ulster had to resurrect a promising career that was all but shattered back home.
14 Jan 2012, 07:54 am
SA potential Locks
Andries Bekker
Flip Vd Merwe
Juandre Kruger
Juan Smith
Gerhard Mostert
Reinhard Elstadt
Franco Vd Merwe
De Kock Steenkamp
Alistair Hargreaves
Anton Bresler
Eben Etsebeth
Willem Alberts
Jean Deysel
Izaak Josh Strauss
No dearth of lock talents in SA to talk of
14 Jan 2012, 08:24 am
I have been very critical of Ruan Pienaar . Last night was an eye opener for me….he looks so much ‘ happier ‘ at Ulster than the haunted , miserable player I saw donning the Boks and Sharks jerseys…..really brilliant performance from Ruan….well played !
14 Jan 2012, 08:31 am
@grant10-6: Ja I watched the game too.
He looks very settled.
Good performance from the whole team.
14 Jan 2012, 10:43 am
The best we have, watching him playing settled like at the the Sharks’ 2006-2009 and now is a feat
Glad he wasn’t tainted in the PdV’s 2011 RWC circus.
14 Jan 2012, 11:11 am
Pienaar should stay exactly where he is, at Ulster. He plays well at this level but almost always fails dismally at international Test level.
Compared to Hougaard he is simply way to pedestrian at scrumhalf. Too much standing around behind the ruck and directing traffic ultimately slowing the game. Slow ball is any teams worst nightmare. Even at fly half and fullback he is ordinary at best.
I’m no Pienaar fan at all and admit this could possibly cause me to have a very biased view towards him. I’m all for versatile players but in my opinion the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none” is applicable here. What is he? Scrumhalf? Flyhalf? Fullback? What he is not is a much easier question to answer.
14 Jan 2012, 12:01 pm
@MCJ-9: he is a 9….and when happy and settled a bloody good one….SA rugby did him no favors
14 Jan 2012, 12:28 pm
@grant10-10: I agree. The Sharks and the Boks did him no favours. Ulster are bringing out the best in him. Pity SA rugby could not. Ditto with Brad Barrit. Yes I know he did not play for the Boks but he should have.
14 Jan 2012, 12:53 pm
@XV-11: agree on all counts
14 Jan 2012, 14:18 pm
I am happy for Ruan, I think extending his contract for two more years will do his game the world of good. Always rated this guy and I believe he will still serve SA rugby in the future with distinction.
14 Jan 2012, 14:29 pm
We certainly have a way to **** up talent in SA.
14 Jan 2012, 16:07 pm
Must be a sorry times now in SA rugby when some aging caricature of scrumhalf Conradie is hailed by AC while Ruan Pienar plays in the mud lane of Belfast a brilliant rugby against Leicester
14 Jan 2012, 16:28 pm
There’s a vast difference in kicking 21 points and being a test quality 9.
14 Jan 2012, 17:15 pm
@David-16:
true
but he looked bloody classy last night against the Eng 9…..really impressive display.
imo
14 Jan 2012, 17:37 pm
@grant10-17:
I’ve a feeling that Ruans major confidence weakness at test level is due to growing up in his fathers shadow and the standard he set as a rugby player.
Ironically, although his various coaches have been criticised for messing him around positionally, they’ve all tried to ensure that he was on the field.
14 Jan 2012, 18:01 pm
@ashampoopaloo-5: that Bruce is talking kak as usual, pretend convict thinks that because the most dominant locking pair in the history of game has moved on SA has no locks, that’s what many idiots said before out of the blue along came Bakkies and Matfield and started moering everyone.
The next generation of locks are coming through nicley, you can add these giants from the Lions to that list, Roodt, Venter and Botha.
Of all of the hundreds of locks available from a pool of 500,000 players , I would say that Estebeth and Ruan Botha can step up in June and moer any locks the convicts and kiwis present.
Bruce must remember that SA always have and always will produce the biggest forwards in world rugby, fact.
15 Jan 2012, 00:47 am
@RL-19: yeah Brucie banger baby should rather go tie his kangaroo’s legs around the back porch of his shearing shack before his Sheila goes hopping off trying to waltz like Matilda with Crocodile Dundee in hot pursuit.. what some of these tie dyed versions of 2nd generation convicts think they know about Oom Sarel se sportsoort is downright negligible and distinctly dangerous… to say the pitiful perplexed least.
15 Jan 2012, 01:23 am
@ashampoopaloo-5: What about Wilhelm Steenkamp? They guy is a monster on defense. Hard as nails in your face type.
15 Jan 2012, 13:38 pm
Ruan is without doubt a talented Rugby player.
But on the International Stage, he was very average.
He was given every opportunity to shine.
Far more opportunities than he deserved. Far more opportunities than most will ever get.
He was never SA’s best 9. And he was never SA’s best 10. But the Selectors always seemed to find a place for him.
15 Jan 2012, 18:05 pm
Judge the ability /class of your scrum half when his pack is struggling. Ruan will always look ok when his pack is dominating. It is when they (pack) are under pressure that Ruan cracks like cheap pollyfilla !!!
Even last night he was nothing more than a very good link but I never saw him take a decisive break throughout the whole game, no snipes or asking to many questions. His kicking was superb though both to posts and out of hand.
16 Jan 2012, 02:36 am
@garth-3:
Take out Bekker and there is not one ‘world class’ lock in RSA…
Hope Etzabeth and a few other youngsters come through…
@ashampoopaloo-5:
Desperation that list… half of them are retreaded flankers that aren’t even world class in that postion, a quarter are unproven, the other quarter failures…
Yep you’re desperate!
16 Jan 2012, 02:39 am
At least NZ are in the same situation… Australia however have never had such good blind-sider and REAL lock (200cm’s/115kg’s plus) stocks…
16 Jan 2012, 05:23 am
tie me kangaroo down sport showing his true yellow bellied boomerang colors – at least rather go sing waltzing Matilda loud and clear and stop pretending you a half baked displaced yarpie not knowing which side of the Indian ocean you actually belong
So Aussie got an over the hill Vickerman (ex SA) and a less than 2.00 m vintage Horwill to boast about, or else an aging Sharpe and the other youngster Simmons to call on and this Matilda here wanna pretend the 2.00 mt plus stocks are truly well endowed. Less its 37 year old hybrid Samo that gets him all wet behind the earlobes.
Only one sounding desperate and in a little denial gotta be Bruce chasing Sheila round the back of the porch before Crocodile Dundee gets to her first.
Thorn is about same size as Alberts / Strauss and smaller than Flip
Along with Wilhelm Steenkamp SA have at least 5 or 6 x 2 mt specialists in Steenkamp 1 & 2, Van Der Merwe 1 & 2, Bekker, Mostert, Bresler, Kruger, Etsebeth, Hargreaves, then we have the Thorn type hybrids in Juan Smith, Alberts, Deysel, Elstadt, Strauss and I would venture a whole host of others yet to descend on the rugby stage … so dream on cowgirl in the sand .. SA locking stocks are still way better endowed than your convict counterparts.. by some distance.
16 Jan 2012, 07:05 am
@Cane
@Justrugby
Well said. Agree with all u said there.
16 Jan 2012, 07:44 am
@cane-22: Aah. Some sanity.
Many would give their leftnut to get the opportunities Ruan has had in the Bok jersey.
Nothing against the guy, hell I named one of my dogs after him but he got a fair shot with the Boks and couldnt cut the mustard.
Happy to see him settled in Ireland and by all accounts enjoying his rugby, that does not mean he is “the one that got away” though.
16 Jan 2012, 08:12 am
He can still play a role for the Boks.
16 Jan 2012, 08:21 am
ruan pienaar did sa rugby no favours.
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