Pienaar signs for Ulster

lobber

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6175239,00.html


Brilliant signing for Ulster, amazed he went there and didn't get picked up by a French or English outfit

outwest

ulster now have the best scrum half in ireland, great signing,

i think they new a while back they were getting him and that why boss went to leinster

Depp

where do ulster get all this money?

outwest

the irfu, northern sports council,

chupacabra

Pienaar hasnt played SH in awhile. Might just see him fill the 10 shirt a few times aswell

Redsock

Marquee signing for us and an indication of our ambition. A 15 and a bit of pace on the wing and we will be a force next season.

[Jackass]

Amazing signing, fair play!

Maybe they would have been better off keeping Boss and moving him to 10?

He would have been an excellent signing for Leinster to have him as a back-up 10 and fight it out with Reddan for 9.

But fair play Ulster, I reckon that'll be the biggest signing by any of the provinces this summer.

Brewster

Super signing, gives Ulster real options at half back. Young Paul Marshall is a decent prospect at SH and I expect he will see alot of game time next season.

I suspect a large part of Ulster's budget may have been used on this signing. They need a fullback and a wing.

Any news on Rush? Some talk he was not coming to Ulster now??

Redsock

Rush is staying with Cardiff and tbh I think we can do without him. There are other areas we need to strengthen.

[Jackass]

Plus your best player last season was your number 8.

Guy:Incognito

Aw, I thought they'd coaxed Francois out of retirement.

Redsock

Chris Henry isn't a number 8, he isn't big enough but robbie diack can do a job for us until we can find ourselves a jamie heaslip. Piennaar is another piece in the puzzle but there are a few more pieces still needed.

danthefan

Rumour alert - one of the conditions Pienaar signed on was that he'd play basically all his rugby at 9.

I still think this is crazy, a big name player going to a fairly unsuccessful team who wouldn't compete with the big European sides on wages a year before a RWC. Makes no sense to me.

thomond2006

It's a brilliant signing for Ulster.

Didn't PdV once describe him as the "Tiger Woods" of rugby?

Edit: lol that's not a compliment nowadays!

Looking forward to seeing what he can do at Ulster.

A lot hinges on him playing 9 or 10, pressure on both positions will be beneficial though, hopefully pushes players on with their games.

ALH-06

[Jackass] wrote: »

Amazing signing, fair play!

Maybe they would have been better off keeping Boss and moving him to 10?

But fair play Ulster, I reckon that'll be the biggest signing by any of the provinces this summer.

I hope he won't play at 10 - Humphries and O'Connor are doing a great job there and the last thing Irish rugby needs (short of importing more props) is a high profile foreigner coming in to displace two promising outhalves.

It's a great signing but I'm genuinely confused as to why he's coming to Ulster. Especially with the timing re RWC...

Tristram

wow

:eek:

PhatPiggins

I'll be interested to see how he he reacts when he see's he's been picked at 9,10 and 15 for Ulsters opening ML game next season !

GymJim

danthefan wrote: »

Rumour alert - one of the conditions Pienaar signed on was that he'd play basically all his rugby at 9.

I still think this is crazy, a big name player going to a fairly unsuccessful team who wouldn't compete with the big European sides on wages a year before a RWC. Makes no sense to me.

It is a bit odd alright. Though I get the feeling if you look at the SA squad selected for their tour that PdeV is now willing to look at NH based players such as BJ, van Niekerk, Frans Steyn etc.

Think it's likely that he will play most of his rugby at 9 and I would think Ulster have probably agreed to abide by the SA player management system which would have sealed the deal. After all couldn't see the French sides agreeing to this with the number of games in their season and the amount of money they would pay.

anonymous_joe

I cannot wait to see Ulster's defence with Pienaar and iHumph at half back. :pac:

GymJim

I get the feeling you'll be seeing a lot more of NOC. More from a defensive point of view. Boss is a big loss in defence actually.

Wonder if there's any chance of seeing another SH come in and Pienaar play a bit more at FB. After all it's a position SA have never really sorted since Percy retired. And Ulster really do need a FB.

Third_Echelon

outwest wrote: »

the irfu, northern sports council,

I thought the IRFU only pays the wages on the players who qualify to play for Ireland?

Foreign imports are paid for my the province directly???

GymJim

Third_Echelon wrote: »

I thought the IRFU only pays the wages on the players who qualify to play for Ireland?

Foreign imports are paid for my the province directly???

You're correct. The Ulster branch will be paying Pienaar not the IRFU.

Third_Echelon

GymJim wrote: »

You're correct. The Ulster branch will be paying Pienaar not the IRFU.

I thought so... that's makes it all the more interesting... where they are getting the cash from?

irishbucsfan

ALH-06 wrote: »

I hope he won't play at 10 - Humphries and O'Connor are doing a great job there and the last thing Irish rugby needs (short of importing more props) is a high profile foreigner coming in to displace two promising outhalves.

It's a great signing but I'm genuinely confused as to why he's coming to Ulster. Especially with the timing re RWC...

I certainly wouldn't agree about NOC and Humphreys. Both were very poor this season.

Humphreys had a good spell before his awful defense saw him dropped, and NOC fails to threaten with ball in hand, which doesnt fit Ulster's style of play.

Pienaar however has the skillset to be a classic Ulster 10, and even though his defense has been shaky, you'd have to imagine that given his experience with the Springboks he's a better defender than Humphreys.


I think a move to Munster or Connacht would suit NOC down to the ground, as their traditional style of play compliments his strengths and hides his weaknesses (just like ROG). I don't think Humphreys will ever keep the starting job anywhere unless he learns to defend adequately.

JustinDee

GymJim wrote: »

You're correct. The Ulster branch will be paying Pienaar not the IRFU.

The Ulster branch is a branch of the IRFU.

Digifriendly

ALH-06 wrote: »

I hope he won't play at 10 - Humphries and O'Connor are doing a great job there and the last thing Irish rugby needs (short of importing more props) is a high profile foreigner coming in to displace two promising outhalves.

It's a great signing but I'm genuinely confused as to why he's coming to Ulster. Especially with the timing re RWC...

I certainly would question the use of 'great' re Humphries and O'Connor. Put the best of them together (O'Connor's goal kicking/Humphries' ability to make a break and get the backline moving) and yes Ulster would have a classy No. 10 and would probably not have been struggling as they did recently but neither on their own inspires me at present and haven't seen either consistently control games in way other great OH's do e.g. ROG.

shawpower

danthefan wrote: »

Rumour alert - one of the conditions Pienaar signed on was that he'd play basically all his rugby at 9.

I still think this is crazy, a big name player going to a fairly unsuccessful team who wouldn't compete with the big European sides on wages a year before a RWC. Makes no sense to me.

I'm delighted for Ulster. But it is strange that someone who was in, or close to being in, the SA team would move so close to the RWC. Maybe BJ is mates or something and brokered the deal in the same way that Ollie "helped" us to get CJ?

Fishtits

According to some Saffer mates his contract states that he will play at 9...

Time will tell.

The majority of Saffers who end up here are dissapointing, there are exceptions, I hope this guy is one.