The South African is set to depart the northern province at the end of the season.
As we all know, Ruan Pienaar’s six season stint with Ulster is to come to an end once this season is finished.
The IRFU announced at the beginning of the season that the 32-year-old’s contract would not be renewed, citing the organisation’s succession policy as the sole reason for this.
The succession policy wants to put an emphasis on developing Irish indigenous players with IRFU performance director, David Nucifora, stating at the time of the announcement that “an extention to Ruan’s contract would further prevent Irish-qualified Ulster players from maximising their development potential and becoming stars for both Ulster and Ireland.”
Many people are torn on this issue.
People on one side of the fence state that Ulster have been lucky to keep a player of Pienaars quality for such a long period of time while others cite how it is harsh by the IRFU to remove a player who has become fully ingrained into the heart and soul of Ulster rugby.
Either way, Pienaar’s departure is going to happen and the South African has been nothing but humble in the interviews he has given surrounding this issue.
The 32-year-old was a guest on BT Sport’s Rugby Tonight where he spoke with a hint of sorrow about how this is his final season with Ulster.
“It obviously wasn’t in my planning to make a big move at this stage of my career, obviously getting to the end of it. You know I loved my time at Ulster. I’ve got about six months left at Ulster and for me now it’s all about enjoying it as much as I can and trying to play as well as I can in the couple of games that I have left.”
In fact, Pienaar won’t be playing as much as he would like as he is currently out of Ulster’s remaining Champions Cup fixtures with a knee injury.
Pienaar then reflects glowingly on his time with the northern province, stating how it has been an “unbelievable journey.”
“I think it’s been an unbelievable journey, I never thought I would have stayed with Ulster for this long. The fans , the people, the rugby part of it has just been incredible. To see how the club has grown over the past six or seven seasons has just been phenomenal.”
Ruan Pienaar reflects on his time at Ulster, ahead of his departure at end of the season. #RugbyTonight https://t.co/1cEVP2eu5Z
— Rugby Tonight (@RugbyTonight) January 11, 2017
You get the sense that exceptions should be made for players who are in Pienaar’s position.
He has undoubtedly played a major role in the positive strides the club has made of the last number of seasons, not to mention the mentoring effect he will have on up and coming young players at the club.
The IRFU’s stance on indigenous Irish players doesn’t really hold water either.
Has Pienaar been blocking the progress of other scrum-halves at the club?
Paul Marshall has a huge number of appearances for Ulster (185) but has never established himself as a viable option for Ireland, with only 3 caps to his name.
Perhaps the blame should be put at the door of Ulster’s academy rather than Pienaar for Ulster’s lack of options in the scrum half position.
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