Pienaar back as Sharks prepare for URC debut
Following eleven years away from the Cell C Sharks, Ruan
Pienaar will start at scrumhalf for the Sharks in their United Rugby
Championship opener against Irish giants Munster on Saturday.
Pienaar spent seven years with another Irish outfit Ulster so the scrumhalf brings invaluable experience to the squad who step into the unknown this Saturday with Phepsi Buthelezi at the helm.
Having a player like Pienaar, who received 141 caps for Ulster in his time in Ireland, starting is crucial for coach Sean Everitt and his experience is the reason why the loanee starts in front of Sanele Nohamba.
“Ruan is a leader in his own right and he certainly brings a lot leadership to the team and obviously brings a lot of experience in these conditions,” Everitt said.
“He knows the teams that we are playing against and understands what needs to be done on the field to get a result.
“He’s massive for us and he’s been great at training this week and it just shows why he’s had a career like he has with the quality of preparation that he puts in.”
Young Boeta Chamberlin starts outside Pienaar in the flyhalf position with Marius Louw and Werner Kok filling the centres while the exciting Thaakir Abrahams and Ya Penxe start on the wings with Curwin Bosch at fullback.
Everitt explained why he wanted Bosch at fullback despite his credentials as a flyhalf.
“We are looking for a kick option at fullback,” Everitt explained.
“Aphelele Fassi is with the Springboks and we used to have an extra kicker in the midfield in Andre Esterhuizen so we just felt that with Curwin’s ability on counter-attack and with his big boot against the way that Munster play we felt he will be valuable at 15.”
Amongst the forwards Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona and the former Munster man Thomas du Toit start in the front row. Le Roux Roets and another former Munster player Gerbrandt Grobler start in the lock positions.
Dylan Richardson, Henco Venter and captain Phepsi Buthelezi make up the back row for Saturday’s historical showdown.
The Sharks do welcome back Hyron Andrews and Ruben van Heerden who start on the bench as Everitt goes with a 6-2 split between forwards and backs.
Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Khuta Mchunu cover the front row with Mpilo Gumede loose forward cover and Sanele Nohamba and Jeremy Ward provide the backline substitutes.
Kick off at Thomond Park on Saturday is at 8:40pm South African Time.
Cell C Sharks v Munster
1 Khwezi Mona, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 3 Thomas du Toit (v/c), 4 Le Roux Roets, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 6 Dylan Richardson, 7 Henco Venter, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (c), 9 Ruan Pienaar, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 12 Marius Louw, 13 Werner Kok, 14 Yaw Penxe, 15 Curwin Bosch.
Replacements
16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Ruben van Heerden, 21 Mpilo Gumede, 22 Sanele Nohamba, 23 Jeremy Ward.
