Ruan Pienaar’s trip into unknown against Oyonnax
Pienaar is one of seven changes that new director of rugby Les Kiss has made from last week’s first away win of the season, at Newport. Pienaar joins Paddy Jackson at half-back with Andrew Trimble and Craig Gilroy returning to their respective wing slots, with a fit-again Luke Marshall back in midfield alongside Darren Cave.
In a game Ulster must win, with Toulouse and Saracens waiting in the wings, skipper Rory Best starts his first game of the season. Kyle McCall’s excellent showing last week sees him retain the loose-head berth, as Ricky Lutton gets a first start of the season on the right-hand side of the scrum. Nick Williams returns at No.8 after suffering a hamstring problem that saw him miss last week’s Dragons game.
Pienaar, meanwhile, is looking forward to his trip to Oyonnax, his first ever game on a 3G pitch, and reflects on that Japan World Cup defeat, and the arrival of Kiss.
“For me, it will be the first time I’ve played on a pitch like that. I missed the games against Cardiff and Saracens last year, so I’m looking forward to seeing what that is like. They have a big pack, so we will be looking to get that tempo up and hopefully if we get some good clean ball and get the wingers into some space.
“It will be a tough game, they are a good team, particularly at home, with a physical pack of forwards. So there is no doubt it will be a big challenge for us in front of their passionate crowd. But we have done our homework so hopefully that will pay off.”
The French Top 14 club sacked coach Olivier Azam on Thursday just eight games into their domestic campaign but Pienaar expects a dangerous opponent.
“They have a couple of big name players like Peri Weepu who has been a great All Black scrum-half and has added a lot of value to the Oyonnax team,” explained Pienaar. “I don’t think I really could afford to take a break now. I didn’t play that much in the World Cup, so it is now a matter of getting up to speed with the calls and drills. I’m more than happy to come back into the system now and hopefully get a little break some other time during the season. Yes, it has been a busy couple of years, but as long as you are healthy and injury-free, it just good to play and be back here.
“From a personal point of view, it’s a strange preparation as you usually have more time to settle in before Europe starts. It has come around very quickly, but nevertheless excited to be back with Ulster and to see everyone again and train with them, and looking forward to a good season.”
Pienaar who has come under the gaze of new coach Kiss for the first time.
“Good to see Les here, and the work he has done over the past two weeks and it will be good to start playing some rugby again. He’s added a lot of organisation and discipline to the squad, that’s something we need alongside the work that Neil Doak has been doing, so as a squad we have learned a lot. Great to hear a new voice and a new philosophy and it’s been really good for me, personally.
The Springbok reflected on that giant shock at the World Cup, when Japan defeated South Africa.
“It was obviously very disappointing. Although we didn’t play as well as we would have liked too, they proved they are a really good rugby team and as a nation, they will grow over the next four years until the 2019 World Cup. They played really well and deserved their win. It certainly woke us up and put us on the right track in the group, and we got together to finally get into the semi-final before losing to the overall winners. New Zealand definitely deserved to win the World Cup, but it’s about learning from the games and that’s what we had to do in the tournament. But it was a tough week after the Japan defeat and we just wanted to hide.”
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