Prime time for Pienaar
6 Sep 2012
RYAN VREDE writes Ruan Pienaar is under immense pressure to take his chance at building a Test career as a starting scrumhalf. Pressure, however, has always been his nemesis.
Having been utilised in every backline position except in midfield under Jake White and Peter de Villiers, Ruan Pienaar can finally see a clear path ahead in the position he has always believed he is best suited to at Test level.
Heyneke Meyer’s hand has been forced on Francois Hougaard. He had hoped his tactical kicking game would improve, which it hasn’t. Pienaar will now get an extended run in the side, presenting him with an opportunity he never had when Fourie du Preez was playing. How he responds will be decisive to his Test future.
Pienaar shifted into national consciousness with a string of excellent performances in the 2007 Super Rugby tournament for the Sharks – exhibiting every technical skill you could ask for in a scrumhalf. Widespread predictions of a notable Test career followed. However, what should have been a time of tutelage under Du Preez became a nightmare five-year period in which the incompetent Ricky Januarie acted as Du Preez’s deputy most of the time, while Pienaar would also be subjected to De Villiers’ fanciful flyhalf experiment.
It was a horrible way to treat a national treasure.
Pienaar has thrived at scrumhalf at Ulster – establishing himself as one of the pre-eminent nines in Europe – and has helped place the Irish giants among the continent’s elite with a clutch of commanding performances. Tellingly, and here is the crux, many of those performances have come in their most high pressure matches.
I recall probing former Springbok captain John Smit on Pienaar in 2009. He was liberal in his praise of his technical skills, but tried, unconvincingly, to soften his concerns around his temperament under pressure. This would be a constant theme for Pienaar’s coaches and team-mates (most spoke off the record) in the years that followed.
Herein lies Pienaar’s primary challenge – mastering his mind.
We can draw confidence that his early mental frailty was largely due to diabolical man management from his coaches. Now he is in an environment where his head coach backs him and has no plans to deploy him in any position other than scrumhalf. It is a pivotal position in the context of the Springboks’ game plan. Here’s hoping Pienaar’s fractured confidence has healed and he builds the Test career he has always had the potential to.
Follow Ryan on Twitter
Follow SA Rugby magazine on Twitter
52 Comments
6 Sep 2012, 08:05 am
Ruan Dragon will be just fine
6 Sep 2012, 08:06 am
‘prime time poser for pienaar’ would have rung better.
losing your alliteration skills, dragons?
6 Sep 2012, 08:06 am
snap
6 Sep 2012, 08:09 am
‘pienaars prime time poser in perth’
is outstanding
please change it to this title ryan?
6 Sep 2012, 08:20 am
Help Bakkies out Ryan he is in need for some recognition
6 Sep 2012, 08:22 am
@sharks_lover-5:
hehe
it is some really good alliteration though
6 Sep 2012, 08:22 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-6:
6 Sep 2012, 08:23 am
they have previously corrected spelling mistakes i’ve pointed out and this is some really, really good alliteration for a titie.
its a win win
do it ryan….
6 Sep 2012, 08:56 am
I’m glad seeing pienaar @9… But sad 2 see hougi @11… The best possible position for hougi is @9… So I’d prefer jersey no21 for him… Why take specialist wings with you when you choose scrummie as a wing? What message do it sent and how will it effect his game(mvovo)
I’m sorry to say but a hougi/goosen combo can still materialise but it could be more effective when both come on the last quartet of the game… Fresh explosive and energetic… But ya its only my opinion ofcourse… And ya add lambie to the equation to… @fullback and bobs your answer
6 Sep 2012, 09:21 am
Ruan will be fine. Meyer must start him there for the rest of this RC.
6 Sep 2012, 09:39 am
I think he deserves 30 odd test caps to prove his potential ,even if it turns out he has none ! Thats the trend hey ,well if he were a bull that’s how it would work!
6 Sep 2012, 10:11 am
Am happy for Ruan. He was flyhalf for the Boks under PDV for EOYT2009(I think) and he did so very well. The man definitely has the talent, good time for him. RP could carry us to the next RWC!!
6 Sep 2012, 10:57 am
Hands down the best 9 with a RSA passport. All he needs to do now is block his ears at the match prep training session and skip his flyhalf with regularity, giving it to his buddy Frankie and all will be fine.
6 Sep 2012, 11:30 am
Ruan well done boet, you deserve starting 9. I think Hougaard should play off the bench as a wing as per RWC 2011. Once JPP is fit that’s Hougaard will be back to where he should be 20 min impact player off the bench when there will be a lot more space for him
6 Sep 2012, 11:41 am
He shifted into national consciousness, did he? Skoppie will like that.
6 Sep 2012, 12:17 pm
Personally I don’t care if he gives the odd pass that is intercepted by the opposition or puts the odd kick straight into touch.
If he brings greater flow and tactical awareness to our backline play – which he will – then his inclusion is more than worth it.
Hougaard just doesn’t have the awareness for the position.
6 Sep 2012, 12:22 pm
Ja, Hougaard suffers from mullet vision.
6 Sep 2012, 12:26 pm
@katman-17:
That diagnosis – if accurate – is concerning, given that the affliction in question has now just shifted one position to the front.
6 Sep 2012, 12:33 pm
My only problem with Pienaar is his couldn’t care less attitude towards test rugby. I wish he could show come passion for the jersey!
6 Sep 2012, 12:37 pm
@goodstuff-19: He must have passion for the jersey – for him to come back to SA after the way he was treated under the Pdivvy era shows he still wants to be a Bok – his stint in Europe shows he was mismanaged
6 Sep 2012, 12:37 pm
@Tacitus-18: Mullet vision actually suits Dwuin’s lumbering pile driver approach. You don’t want it in your scrummie though.
6 Sep 2012, 12:38 pm
@goodstuff-19:
And on what do you base this assessment? His demeanour on the field? Maybe he just hides his emotions more than say the Dancing Duo from Cape Town.
6 Sep 2012, 12:39 pm
@katman-21:
Fair enough. And I agree with your diagnosis, by the way.
6 Sep 2012, 12:45 pm
Ruan Pienaar was one of our worst players in both 2009 and 2010. In 2009, he was asked to play flyhalf and couldn’t convert his kicks. It didn’t matter that much because we were still playing well and scoring tries. Fourie Du Preez was our scrumhalf in 2009 and his direction and speed of delivery allowed us to attack when the defense was unsettled.
In 2010 however, Ruan Pienaar played scrumhalf and was shockingly awful. He delivered super slow ball from the rucks and on many many occasions he simply didn’t pitch up at the breakdown. Defenses were able to re-set and we struggled to score any tries as a result. We lost every game we played against the All Blacks and only won 1 game against Australia. The game we won against Australia was a game which Francois Hougaard started at 9.
A kicking game is important for a scrumhalf, but the number one priority of any number 9, should be quick distribution. I’m afraid Ruan Pienaar simply isn’t good enough in this area.
Ryan Vrede is a completely useless rugby pundit. I strongly recommend taking his articles with a pinch of salt.
6 Sep 2012, 12:54 pm
@Kaizan-24: Have you seen his recent form in the UK ?
6 Sep 2012, 13:00 pm
@stew-25: Indeed. Magners League Player of the Year 2012, and shortlisted for European Player of the Year 2012.
He almost single-handedly put Ulster in the final.
6 Sep 2012, 13:07 pm
@katman-17: That’s why the Audi has “park assist”
6 Sep 2012, 13:07 pm
@TooMuchRugby-27: And a CD hanging from the mirror
6 Sep 2012, 13:07 pm
@katman-26: I rate him as a player , i still believe he has the potential to be greater than his dad
6 Sep 2012, 13:11 pm
@TooMuchRugby-27: lol ! classic post
6 Sep 2012, 13:19 pm
Agree with Kaizan-24
Pienaar is 28 isn’t going to get any better.he was terrible when he came on vs Argies,slow ball,shirks physical,stuff etc
He played his best rugby at 9 between 2006-2007,played well at 10 in 2008 EOYT,has been rubbish since Lions tour
His Magners League form is neither here nor there,Pedrie Wannenberg was also outstanding for Ulster and he’s over the hill.Reagan King was a top player in Celtic League for years and probably best midfielder behind Odriscoll in 2000′s but he wasn’t good enough to play Superrugby and was a 1 cap AB.Pienaar is average 9,average10.
Average all round in big games
More of the same on weekend
6 Sep 2012, 13:20 pm
@Tacitus-22: It’s not just his attitude but rather his commitment to defence and general play. Look at Lambie, he is also jerked around to no end but he plays his bloody heart out for the boks, cannot say the same for Pienaar.
6 Sep 2012, 14:47 pm
Personally I’d like to see Sarel Pretorius in the mix, in stead of Jano Vermaak. I think giving Ruan a start this weekend is good, let’s see what he can do. But Sarel has done out standingly for the Tahs, as well as the Cheetahs.
6 Sep 2012, 15:13 pm
@RAI8-33:
Sarel is unfortunately one of the worst defenders in SA rugby
6 Sep 2012, 17:02 pm
@RAI8-33: Why did the Tahs drop him to the bench for most of the season? His defense is not the biggest problem, he has a slow loopy pass. Great around the fringes of rucks, but test teams will exploit his weaknesses within a oogknip.
6 Sep 2012, 18:07 pm
As a biker I’ve had 3 near accidents, all the fault of an audi driver doing something illegal. Hougaard with his Eurotrash mullet is the perfect Audi posterboy. Good rugby player though.
6 Sep 2012, 18:10 pm
Ruan die Draak has been looking cool & confident every time he played, and he carried MASSIVE responsibility at Ulster and did so very well and slotted LOTS of difficult penalties and conversions under pressure.
He is going to be awesome, and Hougie will be equally awesome on the wing.
6 Sep 2012, 18:41 pm
The ‘woeful Ricky Januarie’ won us a match against the All Blacks which is more than the majority of modern day ‘Boks’ have done. Pienaar has the confidence of a snail about to trek across the Bonneville flats. At least the woeful Januarie had a pair of b@lls.
6 Sep 2012, 19:03 pm
Folds on the big stage, will be exposed in Dunedin.
6 Sep 2012, 20:26 pm
Pienaar should have stayed at 10
that was the only place he could have seriously become a very high stake contributing Bok.. and he could easily have been far more influential in Springbok direction and play making than the one dimensional droll Morne Steyn…
However between the thick as 3 bricks SA coaches and Pienaar’s own lack of brash self belief he opted for the softer option and decided to play 9
He’s just a hybrid 9/10.. another version of FdP except although perhaps far more fluid and silky in his running style he may not have the same degree of influence on a game.
Pienaar should have stayed at 10.. he would have been a pretty good fly half.. as a scrum half he’s just ordinary without enough low down attitude and panache..
Hougaard strips him by leap years in terms of sheer heart, strength and speed and guts.
6 Sep 2012, 20:32 pm
Januarie had more guts and attitude in his baby pinkie than FdP had in his entire body…
and some these schmucks trying to equate Frans Steyn’s charge down try against Argentina last week to Januaries solo effort at beating All Blacks at their house of pain fortress in 2008
yeah anything to latch onto to try and keep the white domination rugby myth alive…
6 Sep 2012, 20:37 pm
‘Ruan Pienaar is under immense pressure” oh sheeeeit!
6 Sep 2012, 20:46 pm
@fitz1ella-41: “Januarie blah blah..” Of course he did. He was a mighty coloured. Like you I’d imagine. Pity he was as thick as pig poopoo.
6 Sep 2012, 20:55 pm
@fitz1ella-41:
Ricky in his prime was hard on the opposite no 9, like Gregan he irritated the sh-it out of teh opposition and was a good tackler and defender with lots of heart
FdP was a brilliant player and a different type of scrumhalf
January did himself no favours agreeing to play for PdV team while he was unfit and fat
Bakkies and Guthro arrived at the ruck before him
At least FdP had the guts to tell HM that he’s not good enough to play tests at the moment
6 Sep 2012, 21:06 pm
Januarie is a legend. Paulse too. You have to appreciate the struggle they had, and how much being a Bok meant to them. They gave all. We coloureds take nothing for grant.
6 Sep 2012, 21:18 pm
@bok2007-43: these the kind moron’s who got no place in society.. let alone in a rugby society.. these the kind morons who actually belong at the arse end of the universe let alone the planet..
these the kind morons who set SA rugby back by a million light years in retrograde motion still waiting for reality to strike home..
these the kind morons who think their heilige wit vel is something perceptibly godly when back at the ranch its actually the opposite its sickly pale and pitifully perverted.
6 Sep 2012, 21:27 pm
@bok2007-43:
Meet me in Manenburg over a cup of Milo.
6 Sep 2012, 23:09 pm
Pienaar’s mental problems with pressure only went as far his place kicking. he has always performed under pressure in every other respect.
This article is horse $hit.
7 Sep 2012, 06:30 am
@fitz1ella-46: You know what you can do with your inferiority complex..
@KeurboomPark-47: WTF would I go to manenburg for?
7 Sep 2012, 09:45 am
Ability wise Pienaar may have all the tools but he’s 28 and still has had no substance as an international.hes SA version of Ian Balshaw.never good enough even with all the gifts
8 Sep 2012, 07:31 am
Bottom line is that he is the best we have got and a lot of the criticism “missing in action and slow service” is applicable to Hougaardt more than Pienaar. He might seem too cool for those who want to see passion in their scrumhalf but do you want a hothead like Hougaardt who can be exploited by the opponents to give away penalties and receive cards? Hougie is the Jimmy Cowan of SA rugby. The Bok scrumhalf cupboard is bare and our best probably rank 5 or 6 in comparison to the NZ stock of halfbacks. Go Ruan, you did it for Ulster now step up and do it for the Boks!
8 Sep 2012, 07:58 am
I like a halfback to stand on opposition limbs than to step over them.
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.