Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has picked him at flyhalf, but Ruan Pienaar is not concerned whether the Sharks hand him the No 9 or 10 jersey.
“The only condition is that I want to enjoy my rugby,” said Pienaar.
Joe Venter writes for Rapport that the word from coach John Plumtree is that Pienaar and his Springbok teammate Frans Steyn could both be used as flyhalves. However, Pienaar may sometimes have to play scrumhalf and Steyn will be used as an inside centre.
“Peter said he would like to see me grow as a No 10 and therefore it would probably be the right thing to wear the No 10 jersey at Super14 and provincial level,” said Pienaar.
“But as long as I enjoy my rugby I really don’t mind. It will be up to the coach and selectors who plays where.
“I know that Frans would also like to play flyhalf and the coach will probably pick him there as well. Then it’s up to us. It’s not about us, but the team.”
Plumtree won’t have the additional headache of accommodating Frenchman Frederic Michalak. No foreigner will play for the Sharks this year.
“That’s a good decision. It will give our players the opportunity to prove their mettle,” said Pienaar.
Pienaar was South Africa’s first-choice flyhalf on their Northern Hemisphere tour at the end of last season. He enjoyed an excellent tour and De Villiers hinted afterwards that he would like to see him there permanently.
South Africa already have two top scrumhalves in Fourie du Preez and Ricky Januarie.
Meanwhile, it looks like inside centre is the position being earmarked for Steyn.
Many experts believe fullback will be his best position, but veteran Stefan Terblanche give the Sharks an outstanding option there.
There is also no certainty over the position of Bok captain John Smit.
He will be used as an “all-round” player in the front row. In his regular position of hooker Bismarck du Plessis produced outstanding performances last year.
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Last year it was “Should Steyn play 12,13, 14 or 15?” This Year it is “Should RP play 9 or 10?”
I say 10.
It is not a question of where does he mind playing it is a question of where will he be of most benefit to the team(s)
We have enough 9s we need a new 10 and RP has shown that he has what we need at 10.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 1) : Agreed are in great need of quality 10’s and Pienaar will only improve with more game time. He will need the game time prior to the lions tour and Steyn hasn’t shown us anything to suggest that he can be the answer at 10.
@Pokkel (Comment 2) :
I can only think that Steyn will be the flyhalf when Plumtree is planning to play a crashball gameplan against the opposition and that Pienaar will be the flyhalf when the Sharks want to play exciting rugby.
Let’s hope Plumtree buys into the expansive rugby gameplan. 😉
How many games has Steyn played at 10???
Did he play 10 at school and age group level??? My reason for asking is cos I’ve seen his kicks charged down more than once while playing for either the Boks or the Sharks (at 10) 🙄
@wpw (Comment 4) :
It takes a while to reload the cannon and by then the opposition are on top of him. 😉
Anyone read the Meyer thread over on Voldy ❓
@PJLD (Comment 6) :
Yeah I saw that. 😯
So will we have Meyer as the Spears coach with Luke as the captain?
I wonder how Luke will refer to him? 😆
@KSA Shark © (Comment 7) :
I wonder if they will be allowed to record the audio at team meetings. 😳
@KSA Shark © (Comment 8) : I’m struggling to find confirmation of this in any mainstream media
@robdylan (Comment 9) :
I suspect that where there is smoke there is fire, but will also wait and see if it actually happens.
IF the Spears play in 2011 that is still 26 months before the Spears will play so I wouldn’t expect anything to happen until the 23rd or 24th month. 😳
@KSA Shark © (Comment 10) : yeah… they need to have three early-season court cases first anyway