Coach Heyneke Meyer has confirmed that he will appoint a short-term captain for the three test series against England, starting 9 June 2012, as well as confirming that Ruan Pienaar will be part of the squad that gathers ahead of that opening test.
According to Supersport.com, Heyneke confirmed that he will look toward a short term captain, a player that will be able to hold down his position in the team, if only just for the three tests against England. He did confirm that Fourie du Preez was an option, but that there are other leaders in the squad as well.
Pienaar was in outstanding form for Ulster this season, culminating in him being shortlisted for the European Player of the Year award. Pienaar thus joins both du Preez and Francois Hougaard in the race for the scrumhalf jersey, with du Preez most likely to start and captain the team while Hougaard plays on the wing.
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wow… with Fourie and Ruan in the mix, there’s hardly room for Hougie in the match 22 at all… I wonder if he annoyed Oom Heynie?
@robdylan (Comment 1) :
Him and JPP on the wings.. not a bad call, but feel for the guy to play out of position.
It would free up a bench spot though..
@robdylan (Comment 1) : Hougaard’s better than Ru. There I said it. 😛
@klempie (Comment 3) : Yip I’m with you. If anything it should be Hougaard 1st choice, Pienaar 2nd and FdP sent packing to margate.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 4) : Concur.
Pienaar for captain!!!!
some of you boys severely lack true rugby knowledge…Hougaard is a powerful runner. Quick, strong, great strength and great defence…TELL ME ONE OCCASION WHEN HE HAS DOMINATED AS A SCRUMHALF PUTTING THE OPPOSITION ON THE BACK FOOT?? he has always been devastating on the run and therefore would make my Bok team on the wing any day, running off a true scrumhalf.. du Preez in his prime was all class!!
Pienaar however has the boot of du Preez (if not a bigger one), a deceptive runner and an exceptional pass. Pienaar has often outplayed du Preez in the past (Currie Cup final 08 for one). Dominated Heineken Cup Quarters and Semis. He is the best scrummy in the country..
9. Pienaar
10. M. Steyn(even though Grant should be-GOOSEN WILL BE IN FUTURE)
11. Hougaard
12. Steyn
13. de Villiers
14. Pietersen
15. Lambie
😈 Piernaar?? Okay, I’ll be open to this and wait for him to impress. But with Bulls x2, FS and Sharks scrummies playing well… 😈
@KSA Shark © (Comment 4) : HA! We agree on something!
@pienaar111 (Comment 7) :
I think you should back off with the insults before posting your next comment.
Your views are great, I agree with them, but if you start by insulting the rest, your comments lose all value..
@pienaar111 (Comment 7) : 😈 To me he lacks BMT. If I have to watch him shaking his head one more time… 😈
now imagine he comes back to Durban. We would be close to unbeatable
@pienaar111 (Comment 7) : My lasting impression of Ruan – a really talented player, but the sulking when things did not go his way I just did not enjoy
@robdylan (Comment 1) : Hopefully Heyneke realises that Hougie is a great impact player off the bench and would provide more off the wood than Pienaar would. Pienaar got a lot of praise thanks to his kicking for goal overseas, he won’t be doing that for the Boks…so i hope Heyneke sees that.
@JJR (Comment 14) : Have the rumours that FDP will start and be the captain been confirmed?
@jako (Comment 12) : And Kockett also looking keen to come back to Durban…finally have some competition for the 9 jersey, again. Imagine we just add Pienaar and Steyn to the current Sharks team…it would be the best non-international rugby squad i have ever seen, no doubt. The squad will be better better than all of the six nations and australia international squads, it will be that insane. Would be stronger than a British abd Irish Lions squad for sure…thinking about it gives me goose bumps 🙂
And add Lions’ young Locks to the squad too, Botha and Willemse…the squad would be equal to a Bok squad in terms of talent and quality, IMO.
@Bokhoring (Comment 15) : Conflicting stories; but i’m pretty confident he will be our number 9 for England.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 10) : Yeah i realize those comments were a bit harsh. It just irritates me when people come and blurt things out without substantial backing to their claims. So I do apologize.”
@KILLER SHARK (Comment 11) : I disagree bro. Pienaar has had 5 ‘post-hooter’ attempts to win the game. He has nailed them all!! THAT IS IMPRESSIVE and that is BMT. twice for Sharks, 3 times for Ulster.
@JJR (Comment 16) : JJ – put the pipe down and go get some fresh air, lad. You’re losing it.
@JJR (Comment 17) : I know you cant buy experience, but why is it all my teams have the same problem of hanging on to old heroes??!! My Man Utd team have a few pensioners in them, the Boks and Sharks last year as well. All of these players are legends of the game. But L-E-G-E-N-D is past tense for a reason. If Matfield stays out then he at least got it right -was still the best last year
@pienaar111 (Comment 18) : I am not refering to goal kicking. A BMT player lifts his own game and the team when things go pear shape…no sulking.
IMO the northern Hemo’s players look good but are way off the pace when they play in the South. There is such a clear difference. I liked Ruan but I truly do not see why he is required to play ahead of young guns performing well in SR? 😈
@pienaar111 (Comment 7) : we need a like button….. 😎
@Just a Fan (Comment 22) : Cheers man!!
@KILLER SHARK (Comment 21) : Make no mistake I am a huge fan of Hougaard, but I’ll have to disagree with u on Pienaar.
Fourie du Preez was the best in the world, no doubt. But I have not seen him play consistantly well the last year he played for the Bulls or the Boks. How Hougaard was kept on the bench in last year’s World Cup is still a mystery. Hougaard is the best at the moment, pick him and play Ruan off the bench. a Whole lot of positions covered. BTW, I think rugby in England might be of a higher quality than rugby in Japan. (I stand to be corrected but please use it when refering to Ruan playing in England and Fourie playing in Japan)
@KILLER SHARK (Comment 21) : The thing for me with Pienaar (Ru-one not oneoneone) 😆 is that I find him to be a confidence player. If his confidence is high, he plays great, but if he gets a bit of a knock, it shows in his game..
@pienaar111 (Comment 18) :
Pity he could never do that for the Boks.
He nearly cost us the 1st test against the B&I Lions in 2009.
BMT?? You’re havin a laugh!! 😆 🙄
@wpw (Comment 26) : Have you lost your note book or is the memory loss getting the better of you??
Pienaar dominated the first test…5/6 I think at goals and dominated with kicking for territory.
Before you reply Go watch the game on YouTube AGAIN and tell me what those Pommy commentators thought of Pienaar…The word “Brilliant” comes to mind
@Ice (Comment 25) : And the thing that bothers me is he has never been given a run at 9 for the Boks (in the 1st team). 4 games in ’07 TriNations with the weaker squad, then only 3 games in the ’10 EOYT to UK, 2 games in ’11 TriNations with a poor team…When given a run at 9 for the Sharks he was gr8..same now with Ulster. AND COME ON ‘ICE’ AFTER AGREEING WITH MY KEEGAN COMMENT ON THE OTHER ARTICLE I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING IN COMMON..;-) DISAPPOINTING 🙁
Let’s not get carried away guys…
Hougaard is the best 9 and has EARNED his spot. Furthermore any player who decides to leave the country, such as Ruan Pienaar, Frans Steyn or Du Preez has no rights to any provincial or national jersey, they should have to earn it by means of performance. Du Preez, in my opinion ,is no captain.
@pienaar111 (Comment 7) : Grant is not Springbok material when compared with Goosen ,Lambie or even Steyn -he is a weakness in the stormers backline, sad saying that about a durban boy.
@JJR (Comment 16) : Let our young locks develop ! Bresler has been the best lock in the country since we played the highlanders. Both those wp locks are soft ,im worried, and Juandre Kruger is also abit of a one trick pony ie line outs ,Breslers work rate is hands down the best of any south african lock.
@Talent (Comment 29) : a technical line out wizard he’s not though
@pienaar111 (Comment 28) : hey, we can’t have everything in common! It’ll be boring!
It seems that supporting the lions is so bad that they have had to resort to paying R90 for two tickets to get supporters into the stadium.Not like im complaining though got myself tickets for the game.Urge all shark fans living in jhb to do the same and get behind the boys.Make this a home game. 😆
@pienaar111 (Comment 28) : and that just shows you he is a confidence player… 😈
@Talent (Comment 29) : Etzebeth soft? Yeah right..
@pienaar111 (Comment 28) : BUT, in all fairness, I cannot write him off, as I have not followed him since he left, so I will give it the benefit of the doubt.
@Ben (Comment 34) : I wouldn’t say it to his face 😆 maybe because he is young he tends to limp off the field easily, but I have begun to have my suspicions about his capacity as an enforcer. He is mobile and athletic ,rather tutor him as the next matfield becuase Bekker isnt the answer.
@Talent (Comment 36) : No dude. Etzebeth is amazingly strong. The best 4 in SA at the moment imo.
@Ice (Comment 35) : THATS BETTER 😉 I might agree about being a confidence player though. Just hard to be confident if no1 shows confidence in you…Still Pienaar is my fav, but as long as he or Hougie get it I’ll be happy…
@Ben (Comment 37) : I see him as a jumper type lock ,sticking by my opinion. Cant argue with you that he is talented and by far the best young lock in the country but both games the stormers have lost he has limped off or been quite.
@pienaar111 (Comment 7) : You’ve just lost all credibility by saying Grant should be Bok flyhalf!
Ruan Pienaar is a confidence player and is currently playing with loads of it. His goalkicking is also on song so I wouldn’t argue with his selection at all. To be fair to him, he has been messed around in the past with the Boks shifting him between 9 and 10.
@Villie (Comment 40) : How so?? He is kicking at 95%, he attacks the gain line (when WP coaches allow any backline player too haha). I watched the Reds v Stormers live in Brisbane and he totally dominated the game. Big on D and attack. Of course my first choice would be Goosen and Lambie. Morne Steyn has the creativity of a lump of coal…..I CAN’T STAND THE FACT THAT MORNE STEYN IS A BOK FOR 1 REASON