Ruan Pienaar 'wanted to stay' but will leave Ulster at the end of the season

Ulster operations director Bryn Cunningham and director of rugby Les Kiss had worked with the IRFU for six months to find a solution

Ruan Pienaar will leave Ulster at the end of the 2016/17 season, even though both player and club were keen for him to stay.

The South Africa international has been with Ulster since 2010, scoring 777 points in 118 competitive games, but the club announced his contract had not been extended due to the Irish Rugby Football Union's succession policy.