Ruan Pienaar on hanging up the boots, his coaching philosophy and a potential Ulster return

From winning a World Cup with South Africa in 2007 to getting to experience life in France with Montpellier to following in his father’s footsteps by becoming a Cheetahs legend in the latter half of his career, the evergreen 40-year-old has done just about everything there is to offer in the game of rugby.

And there is, of course, a notable spell in Belfast with Ulster to consider. But we’ll get to that.

Right now, Pienaar is preparing for life post-playing career in Bloemfontein. Twenty years on from making his Currie Cup debut for the Sharks, the scrum-half will pull on the boots one last time when his hometown Cheetahs take on the Griquas in the same competition on May 17. After that, he will move into a coaching role with the club’s junior set-up with an eye on fostering a new generation of South African talent.

It will be an emotional day, not just for the man himself but for father Gysie, himself a Springbok and Cheetahs hero, his wife Monique and his children, Lemay (12), Jean-Luc (9) and Liam (6), when he runs out one more time at the Toyota Stadium. Playing rugby has been all he has known for the last two decades. Now, he leaves it behind.

"I’m looking forward to giving the body a rest and giving back to what the game has given me,” admits Pienaar, speaking to the Belfast Telegraph.

"All the lasts will happen next week, last gym sessions with the team, last captain’s run. When I reflect, that’s when it will sink in. The on-pitch stuff you miss, but it’s the changing room, all the jokes at the end of the week, that’s the stuff you miss most.

"It’ll be emotional next week, especially for my wife. She’s been part of my journey since the very beginning and for all of us as a family, it’ll be an emotional week.”

Today's Sport News in 90 Seconds - 8th May

But Pienaar is at peace with his decision. Even though he feels like he could go until the end of the year, he knows that his playing days are drawing to a close and, after chatting to former team-mates like Johann Muller, he wants to ensure that he is able to live life to its fullest with a young family still to look after.

Besides, he knows that his new role as attack coach with the Cheetahs’ Academy and Under-21 sides will take up more than enough time that would make playing on impossible anyway.

It was long believed that coaching was in Pienaar’s future once he retired and so it has proved, and naturally expectations are high that one of the greatest scrum-halves to ever pull on a jersey – be it a Springboks, Cheetahs or Ulster one – will translate that IQ into the off-field aspect of things, but he is taking a more tentative approach than others have towards his prospects.

“Not all players make good coaches, so I know that I’ve got a long way to go. You have to learn how to get the most out of the players. You have to work with people and see how you get the most out of all of them,” he points out.

“Over the last number of years, even at Ulster, you try and see how different coaches react to different situations, how they treat people. That’s going to be a big challenge for me but I’m looking forward to it.

“The game gave so much to me, I grew up next to a rugby field with my dad playing and coaching. I’d just love to give it a go and see if I can make a difference, see the next generation of Cheetahs players and hopefully Springboks coming through. I want to see them improve as players and people as well.

“I’m trying to go to different teams and provinces to learn. I’ve made contact with Jonny Bell at Ulster to see how they look at things. The Irish teams are playing great rugby, their systems are really good. I have a lot of admiration for how they’re playing and the national team, how they play.

“It’s about picking people’s brains and I’m going to do that a lot to see how people think. I’m looking forward to that journey.”

The inevitable mention of Ulster invites the obvious question: what about a future return to Northern Ireland?

Few need reminding of the unfathomable impact Pienaar had in Belfast, his seven-year stay with the province earning him cult status at Ravenhill. He arrived as a superstar after winning the World Cup and within a season had become a saviour, not just with his general performances but through a string of last play match-winning kicks against the Dragons, Glasgow Warriors and Scarlets.

It was always believed he would play the rest of his career in Northern Ireland – “I wanted to play for Ulster until I retired,” he confirms seven years on – but the IRFU had other controversial plans, jettisoning him in 2017 in favour of bringing John Cooney north to promote more Irish players featuring in prominent positions.

But now that he is embarking on a new career, could it lead him back to Ulster?

“Even if it wasn’t in a coaching capacity I’d love to come back and live in Northern Ireland again. We had an incredible time, we loved everything about it,” confirms Pienaar.

“I’m going to give the coaching my best shot and see where it takes us and, who knows, that could be to Ulster some day which would be great. But I’m still at the beginning of my coaching career and I need to work hard to grow as a coach. Then you never know what will happen in the future.”

Pienaar was even close to one more trip back to Belfast before his retirement, the Cheetahs nearly setting up a Challenge Cup Quarter-Final with Ulster at Ravenhill but losing narrowly to Clermont – and ruining the scrum-half’s ideal way to signal the end of his playing days.

“I probably would have called it a day (after that game) because that would have been the perfect send-off!” he laughs, with no hint of sarcasm.

“To play a Quarter-Final against my old team in Belfast, that would have been awesome. Unfortunately we missed out but that would have been a dream send-off.”

Instead, he is left to reflect on what could have been at Ravenhill. Despite spearheading what is arguably the most talented team to ever pull on a white jersey, the likes of Rory Best, John Afoa, Muller, Pedrie Wannenburg and Tommy Bowe all superstars in a team that dined at the top table of European rugby and deservedly so, it never yielded silverware.

Twice they came unstuck against Leinster in those agonising Final defeats. Saracens ended two more promising European runs in Quarter-Finals. No matter how many times it seemed like Ulster had what it took to go all the way, something held them back.

“We never had a trophy. Came close a couple of times. The club really deserves a trophy. Trophies are nice to win and it would have been so nice to add a trophy to Ulster,” sighs Pienaar.

“But when you retire, you might have a trophy or a medal or two in your cupboard, but the only thing you truly have left is the memories you made. You’re a rugby player for a short period of your life and what you remember more are the incredible friends and incredible memories.

“My kids were born there. Met some nice people over there. The one negative is the weather – if you had more sunshine in Belfast then it would be the best place to live in the world!

“You’re nervous as a foreigner to leave your part of the world and how you’re going to be welcomed and received, but the way the people of Ulster helped me and welcomed us as a family, I’ll always be grateful for that.”

He still watches Ulster games when he can and, as an unashamed supporter of the province he once proudly represented, he has lived the highs and the lows that every other terrace dweller at Ravenhill has gone through over the past eight months.

“There’s been a lot of changes, and that is sport, that’s going to happen. You’re going to go through good times and you’re going to go through bad times, and I think that’s where they’re at at the moment,” adds Pienaar.

“It’s a great club with great people looking after them. They still have great players so with hard work and people buying into the plan for what they have next season, they’ll get back to a great place.”

Unfortunately, he won’t be around to see it. Any dreams of the Cheetahs some day returning to the United Rugby Championship and having annual matches with Ulster will have to be without him. The next chapter of his – and his family’s – life begins in two weeks’ time and there is a lot to look forward to both from a rugby and a life perspective.

But for one more week, Ruan Pienaar will live the dream of pulling on a rugby jersey and leading his team out of the tunnel. It will be emotional. It will be fun. And although he hates talking about himself and being the centre of attention, he can’t avoid that it will be all about him.

“I’ve really enjoyed competing and playing and training. I’ve a week-and-a-half left and I’ll still prepare as well as I have done the last 20 years,” he adds with one more smile.

You wouldn’t expect anything less.