What's the deal with Ruan Pienaar?

[rugbywriter]

well not that bad just decides to kick well one in every three games
and is pretty much the only guy in are squad who goal kicks his brother david humphreys was immense so other out halfs and goal kickers left the province as they wernt getting any game time


whats his goal kicking stats like??? are offical announcement said 90% but fails to mention season competition or anything for all i know it oculd be one game

90%??? No no no that is most deffinitely wrong. His percentage is high-sixties/low-seventies, but his percentage from not right infront is probably less then 30%.

 

[Gavin]

Seriously?Is Ian Humphreys missing a leg or something?

To quote you again

Very immature response

 

[rugbywriter]

To quote you again

Was joking loser, get over yourself.

 

[Seaton]

well not that bad just decides to kick well one in every three games
and is pretty much the only guy in are squad who goal kicks his brother david humphreys was immense so other out halfs and goal kickers left the province as they wernt getting any game time


whats his goal kicking stats like??? are offical announcement said 90% but fails to mention season competition or anything for all i know it oculd be one game

I'm not sure about his official stats, but, to quote a rugby presenter, "Pienaar is a confidence player", he has played at scrum-half most of this season, and as far as I remember he came in at 6th or so in terms of goal kicking accuracy in the S14. In short, when he has a stretch of games, and his all round play is fine, he is an excellent kicker, also kicked a kick 50 meters out at the death to beat the Hurrricanes, which shows his class

 

[Conal]

I'm not sure about his official stats, but, to quote a rugby presenter, "Pienaar is a confidence player", he has played at scrum-half most of this season, and as far as I remember he came in at 6th or so in terms of goal kicking accuracy in the S14. In short, when he has a stretch of games, and his all round play is fine, he is an excellent kicker, also kicked a kick 50 meters out at the death to beat the Hurrricanes, which shows his class

yay all good then! hopefully send ulster into the playoffs!

 

[rugbywriter]

I'm not sure about his official stats, but, to quote a rugby presenter, "Pienaar is a confidence player", he has played at scrum-half most of this season, and as far as I remember he came in at 6th or so in terms of goal kicking accuracy in the S14. In short, when he has a stretch of games, and his all round play is fine, he is an excellent kicker, also kicked a kick 50 meters out at the death to beat the Hurrricanes, which shows his class

Is that why everyone's so in love with him? Afraid to hurt his feelings? By the way, you still haven't pointed out one inaccuracy in my first post.

 

[rugbywriter]

yay all good then! hopefully send ulster into the playoffs!

Conal don't get your hopes up Buddy.

 

[Gavin]

Was joking loser, get over yourself.

Haha, I could say immature response again, but it seems like a circle.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

 

[rugbywriter]

Haha, I could say immature response again, but it seems like a circle.

People like you ruin blogging. You don't argue with the facts presented, you go after other stuff that doesn't relate to rugby. In future, please don't reply to my posts if you are not going to respond in terms of rugby.

 

[Gavin]

People like you ruin blogging. You don't argue with the facts presented, you go after other stuff that doesn't relate to rugby. In future, please don't reply to my posts if you are not going to respond in terms of rugby.

This is a public forum, no? You say that Pienaar is not the best full-back you have? That might be true, but remember Steyn didn't want to play for the Springboks against Wales. He asked to be removed from the team, it was only until PdV went and spoke to him personally. Would you really want a player like that representing your country?

 

[Seaton]

I've been a bit upset by some of the recent posts I've read. Anyone who watched that France game will probably agree that Kirchner is nowhere near international quality, but now why are so many people saying that Ruan Pienaar must be fullback?

What is it about this guy that makes everyone demand that he be in the team? Never has a player been so over-rated. I just don't understand what people see in him.

I'm not saying he's completely useless, but some guys make out like he's the Jesus of rugby. Let's look at where we stand with Pienaar:

A while ago, in about 2006/07, lots of people were saying that he is better the Fourie du Preez. That got disproven very quickly.

People then started saying that he is deffinitely next-best to du Preez. Then came Jano Vermaak, Dewaldt Duvenhage, Rory Kockott and Sarel Pretorious. People who are not lying to themselves will agree that Pienaar is now not the second best scrumhalf in the country.

Then because Pienaar wasn't a good enough scrumhalf to make the team, they decided to try him at fly-half because for some reason, Pienaar just has to make the team. The Pienaar at fly-half saga was and still is an utter failure and there is no evidence that points to the contrary. Even in his hometown of Durban in that test against the B&I Lions, the crowd were chanting for Morne to replace him.

Since it had been proven that he's not a good enough scrum half or fly-half to make the Boks, everyone said to give him a go at fullback, because Pienaar just has to make the team. The game that PIenaar played fullback in last year's tri-nations was the only game in the tri-nations that the Boks lost. I'm not at all saying that it is because of him, but he did play very badly and didn't do anything to help save the game for the Boks, which is what so many people say he does.

Now that it is realised by most that Kirchner is not an international-standard fullback, the "put Pienaar at fullback" episode has started up again. Despite having Frans Steyn, Gio Aplon, Riaan Viljoen, Louis Ludik (when fit) at our disposal, people want to put Ruan Pienaar in there. Does Pienaar have the amazing boot or crash ball prowess like Frans Steyn? Does he have the sweet running skills of Viljoen or Aplon? Look at Viljoen's long-distance try against the Sharks in the Super14 (which ironically, Pienaar was one of the defenders who tried to tackle Viljoen but couldn't even get a hand on him) or Aplons tries against France. Would Pienaar ever in his life pull that off? Look at even Louis Ludik when fit. He hardly ever makes a mistake, has a pin-point accurate boot and tremendous speed. Pienaar is nowhere near our best or second best fullback.

Let's sum-up:

He's not our second best scrumhalf

He's not our second best flyhalf

He's not our second best fullback

Why oh why is it so important that he be in the team or on the bench? Guys like Sarel Pretorious and Dewaldt Duvenhage have to miss out despite constantly performing much better. The same thing goes for guys like Peter Grant, Frans Steyn, Gio Aplon (Although he'll probably be a wing mostly) etc. Come on guys, we've got better players. Let's just get over this obsession with this guy.

Seeing as you demand to be proved wrong, here I go.

First of all, 10 or so posters on a rugby forum does not count as "lots of people"
Second, no one is demanding that he be in the team, he is a world class player, Frans Steyn was not selected, therefore we (as in a handful of posters, not representing the whole rugby viewing public) say put the next best player in, ie Ruan Pienaar. There is another advantage to having Ruan in the starting XV, that is he can fill nearly any position in the backline, so if a player were not in position, he could fill in for them (such as if said missing player was in a ruck)

In 2006/2007, there were not "lots of people saying that Pienaar is better than Du Preez", it was a handful of people, but you just seemed to notice them (could be because he is/was a Sharks player, and your details say you are in Durban, with that you would have been closest to the origin of the stories/columns/opinions.) Mind you the Du Preez of then was nowhere near the player he is now.

People were saying that he was the next best to du Preez, and that has not changed till this day.

Pienaar was not played at fly-half for the boks until 2009, so it was hardly a saga, as he only played a handful of games.

The crowd in Durban was not chanting for Morne to come on, in fact the Boks were something like 23-7 ahead (can't remember exactly) just before Morne came on (I'm not blaming Morne for the fightbaack btw), so not only were they not chanting for Morne to come on, they had no reason to even to start chanting for him to come on. (I do remember his kicking being off that day, but his general play was very good)

Kirchner is not international standard, Viljoen is too inexperienced at S14 level, Loudik is not international standard (and will take time to recover from his injury) and Aplon played excellently on the wing (I still feel he is too small though, and is one hit away from head trauma) so why move him to fullback, especially when our wing options are limited?

Your little "sum-up" is your own opinion not a fact, I am not going to argue with your opinion (although it is not my own)

As others have pointed out, the best bet would be to have Pienaar starting on the bench, as a utility cover, but others feel if other first choice players (du Preez, Steyn, F. Steyn) are not available, he is too good to have sitting around.

 

[rugbywriter]

Seeing as you demand to be proved wrong, here I go.

First of all, 10 or so posters on a rugby forum does not count as "lots of people"
Second, no one is demanding that he be in the team, he is a world class player, Frans Steyn was not selected, therefore we (as in a handful of posters, not representing the whole rugby viewing public) say put the next best player in, ie Ruan Pienaar. There is another advantage to having Ruan in the starting XV, that is he can fill nearly any position in the backline, so if a player were not in position, he could fill in for them (such as if said missing player was in a ruck)

In 2006/2007, there were not "lots of people saying that Pienaar is better than Du Preez", it was a handful of people, but you just seemed to notice them (could be because he is/was a Sharks player, and your details say you are in Durban, with that you would have been closest to the origin of the stories/columns/opinions.) Mind you the Du Preez of then was nowhere near the player he is now.

People were saying that he was the next best to du Preez, and that has not changed till this day.

Pienaar was not played at fly-half for the boks until 2009, so it was hardly a saga, as he only played a handful of games.

The crowd in Durban was not chanting for Morne to come on, in fact the Boks were something like 23-7 ahead (can't remember exactly) just before Morne came on (I'm not blaming Morne for the fightbaack btw), so not only were they not chanting for Morne to come on, they had no reason to even to start chanting for him to come on. (I do remember his kicking being off that day, but his general play was very good)

Kirchner is not international standard, Viljoen is too inexperienced at S14 level, Loudik is not international standard (and will take time to recover from his injury) and Aplon played excellently on the wing (I still feel he is too small though, and is one hit away from head trauma) so why move him to fullback, especially when our wing options are limited?

Your little "sum-up" is your own opinion not a fact, I am not going to argue with your opinion (although it is not my own)

As others have pointed out, the best bet would be to have Pienaar starting on the bench, as a utility cover, but others feel if other first choice players (du Preez, Steyn, F. Steyn) are not available, he is too good to have sitting around.

You have made so many errors in there. Guys like you keep saying how fantastic he is as a utility back, but whenever he plays badly you say "it's because he must play scrumhalf". So if you really think about it, he's not much of a utility back. I'll hand it to him, he isn't a bad scrum half, but I feel that he is beyond useless as a fly-half (you don't have to agree with that, that's how I feel about him at flyhalf) and in his couple of games at fullback, he didn't exactly prove me wrong either.

I can understand the arguement about him being on the bench because he takes up less space then having a specialist in each position, but I don't understand why people would want him at fullback considering that he is deffinitely not the next best to Francois Steyn. I know that that is just "my opinion", but you can't honestly say that you believe with all your heart that Ruan Pienaar is South Africa's next best fullback. Besides, if he is such a wonderful scrumhalf, why then do so many people want to see him played in other positions. It just doesn't make sense.

You have your facts wrong with regards to the B&I Lions game. The game in Durban was the game when the Boks were well behind. Then PDV brought on Morne Steyn and Jaques Fourie and Jaques Fourie scored that try and Morne won the Boks the series with his kick. The first game was the one where the Boks were leading, and that was at Loftus or Jo'burg.

And you don't agree with my sum-up? SO you either feel:

(A) That he IS the second best scrumhalf? If that's so, why do you want to see him playing fullback when the scrumhalf position is available? Also, how many times to guys like Sarel Pretorious and Dewaldt Duvenhage have to out-perform him for you to feel that they are perhaps better? 100 matches? 200 matches?

(B) That he IS the second best fly-half? I don't even want to argue this point. If you think that he is the next best flyhalf to Morne Steyn then I really don't want to argue with you.

(C) That he is the best fullback. You say Riaan Viljoen is too inexperienced at Super14 level, but look at how inexperienced Aplon is and look how good he's proven himself to be? The problem with most South Africans is that they pick players based on reputation, not form. That's why the cricket team is an absolute joke, all the big names in there haven't performed in years yet they keep getting picked. Congrats Proteas, you beat the West Indies! What an achievement. Anyways, back to rugby, while Pienaar might have a fair bit of experience, he has just about no experience at fullback. Why put him there when we have fantastic specialists waiting in the wings?

 

[rugbywriter]

This is a public forum, no? You say that Pienaar is not the best full-back you have? That might be true, but remember Steyn didn't want to play for the Springboks against Wales. He asked to be removed from the team, it was only until PdV went and spoke to him personally. Would you really want a player like that representing your country?

You've got the story horribly wrong. Steyn DID want to play. His agent and PDV were having problems and his agent wanted him to withdraw but they sorted that out.

 

[Jer1cho]

In my opinion, Pienaar would play better at 15 than Zane Kirchner. I had this very argument with some *** last year before we played France. Kirchner is horse ****, and cannot play rugby. He kicks, gets his kicks charged, and then kicks again before dropping some balls. If it was my choice, i would start Aplon at 15, as he played excellently there for the Stormers, and bring in van den Heever at 14. I will still play Francois Hougaard ahead of Januarie.

If, however, i HAD to chose between Pienaar and Kirchner at 15, i would play Pienaar. Why? Because he is a better rugby player than Zane Kirchner. You seem to have some sort of agenda against Pienaar. He is not nearly as bad as you make him out to be. Have you not wondered why you are the ONLY person on this entire forum with that opinion? The rest of us seem to think he is a decent player. But we are probably all wrong and don't watch any rugby...

 

[rugbywriter]

In my opinion, Pienaar would play better at 15 than Zane Kirchner. I had this very argument with some *** last year before we played France. Kirchner is horse ****, and cannot play rugby. He kicks, gets his kicks charged, and then kicks again before dropping some balls. If it was my choice, i would start Aplon at 15, as he played excellently there for the Stormers, and bring in van den Heever at 14. I will still play Francois Hougaard ahead of Januarie.

If, however, i HAD to chose between Pienaar and Kirchner at 15, i would play Pienaar. Why? Because he is a better rugby player than Zane Kirchner. You seem to have some sort of agenda against Pienaar. He is not nearly as bad as you make him out to be. Have you not wondered why you are the ONLY person on this entire forum with that opinion? The rest of us seem to think he is a decent player. But we are probably all wrong and don't watch any rugby...

When once have I ever said I'd rather have Kirchner then Pienaar? I could have never said that because I would never put Kirchner in my team. But I would rather have Frans Steyn as my fullback. If he gets injured, then I'd do exactly what you said, Aplon at 15 and Gerhard at 14. Don't put words in my mouth.

 

[Jer1cho]

Lol. I was not talking about you saying Kirchner was crap? I was talking about you saying Ruan Pienaar was crap. You have always said Kirchner was ****. I agree on Francois Steyn as well. He would be my first choice easily for 15.

 

[nickdnz]

Calm down people, calm down. Oh rugbywriter, how I do admire you. You're like to local pub drunkard. Not all ways accurate in your facts, or coherent in your points, however you argue with passion, spirit and total conviction, never letting facts, reason or common sense cloud your judgment.

On this topic, I agree with you. Ruan Pienaar is average. I think SA would be better off ignoring him as a utility and choosing someone more capable in at least one position. He isn't a bad player, but he isn't special enough to earn a Bok jersey.

 

[rugbywriter]

Lol. I was not talking about you saying Kirchner was crap? I was talking about you saying Ruan Pienaar was crap. You have always said Kirchner was ****. I agree on Francois Steyn as well. He would be my first choice easily for 15.

Well I have to come out and say yes, I think that at anything other then scrumhalf, Pienaar is crap.

 

[rugbywriter]

Calm down people, calm down. Oh rugbywriter, how I do admire you. You're like to local pub drunkard. Not all ways accurate in your facts, or coherant in your points, however you argue with spirit and total conviction, never letting facts, reason or common sense cloud your judgment.

On this topic, I agree with you. Ruan Pienaar is average. I think SA would be better off ignoring him as a ultility and choosing someone more capable in at least one position. He isn't a bad player, but he isn't special enough to earn a Bok jersey.

DO you seriously agree with me or are you being sarcastic?