Ruan rules Rory in battle of boot
19 Jan 2013
Ruan Pienaar kicked three penalties as Ulster won a heart-stopper against Castres 9-8.
Springbok scrumhalf Pienaar started at flyhalf for the Belfast club and kicked the last of his penalties in the 63rd minute as Ulster took a 9-8 lead against the French club and then held on to win by a single point.
Former Sharks scrumhalf Rory Kockott, who was Pienaar’s understudy in Durban, kicked a solitary penalty for Castres, yet despite being in prolific goal kicking form in the Top 14, couldn’t do more with the boot and he was subbed in the 54th minute with his team 8-6 ahead.
Castres scored the only try of the match.
It was Ulster’s first win in France and kept alive their European Cup hopes. The final eight will be determined after Sunday’s matches.
2 Comments
19 Jan 2013, 22:35 pm
Just another vindication of Ruan Pienaar’s best position:
It’s at scrumhalf
Indifferent at flyhalf for about 50 minutes but when moved to scrumhalf Ulster gradually started taking control of Castres, a good French side btw.
Cockott is advised to let his game do the talks on the field, he is not at the same class as Pienaar no matter what he thinks.
Ulster’s team budget is about less than a quarter of that of Castres, but Pienaar priceless presence made the difference, he clearly makes the sum of the Ulster fractions greater than the Integer!
Something like Elton Jantjies does
21 Jan 2013, 07:28 am
Kockott still seems to battle in tight games. His mental stamina has always been suspect.
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