Fair opportunity for Pienaar

JOHANNESBURG – Ruan Pienaar will be given a fair opportunity to establish himself in the No 10 Springbok jersey says the convener of the national rugby selectors, Peter Jooste.

Pienaar was on Saturday night included as the No 1 flyhalf in the South African team to play Wales, Scotland and England on their tour of Britain next month. However, changes are so often made at flyhalf in the Springbok team that it must be asked whether the versatile Pienaar’s selection at No 10 may be a mere test run only for this tour.”Ruan is the No 1 flyhalf on this tour.He has to establish himself there.He must build confidence in this position,” Jooste said at the weekend.”We’re not going to play him at flyhalf for the first Test only to see how he goes.He is the first choice and will be given sufficient opportunities to develop and grow in this position.”We have to give him a fair chance to do so.He is also our first-choice goal kicker and he will have to spend a lot of time on the field.”Pienaar said earlier this season he preferred playing at scrumhalf but his feelings about the flyhalf role have probably been discussed with Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.Jooste said the tour would serve as preparation for next year’s series against the British and Irish Lions touring team but victory in all three Tests on this tour would be the main goal.Therefore, not many changes would be made to the team.”Winning is important.We have a core group to select from and if an opportunity comes up changes will be made.”Depending on how the players perform in training and what the demands are for a specific Test, changes can be made but in general we do not want to change too much.”It’s about experience and how you establish combinations.”Jooste said the players on the standby list had not been officially informed but would be told by their unions.”Sometimes the provincial coaches give players a break and then it is difficult to contact them.But they will be told to remain ready because players can be injured even in training camps.”The Springboks assemble in Cape Town in Tuesday and will begin training seriously on Wednesday.They leave for Cardiff on Friday, where they face Wales in the Millennium Stadium on November 8.Meanwhile, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has put a pile of pressure on himself in his pursuit of the goals that he has set for his squad.With the southern hemisphere looked to have taken a bit lead on the north on the rugby field in the past few years, it should be expected of the Boks to win all three of their matches on the coming tour of Wales, Scotland and England comfortably.This being so, even one defeat could be enough to cost De Villiers his position ahead of next year’s eagerly awaited series against the British and Irish Lions.The announcement that Earl Rose was travelling instead of the proven World Cup winner Butch James or the impressive Western Province flyhalf Peter Grant was made, many eyebrows were raised.James was not in great form for much of the Super 14 season, but he showed how effective he can be when the Boks returned to a structured approach for the final Tri-Nations test against Australia in Johannesburg.Apart from anything else, James is currently playing his rugby in England, and his knowledge of the conditions and his opponents could have been used to the Springbok benefit on this tour, where winning should be secondary to any other considerations.SuperrugbyHowever, changes are so often made at flyhalf in the Springbok team that it must be asked whether the versatile Pienaar’s selection at No 10 may be a mere test run only for this tour.”Ruan is the No 1 flyhalf on this tour.He has to establish himself there.He must build confidence in this position,” Jooste said at the weekend.”We’re not going to play him at flyhalf for the first Test only to see how he goes.He is the first choice and will be given sufficient opportunities to develop and grow in this position.”We have to give him a fair chance to do so.He is also our first-choice goal kicker and he will have to spend a lot of time on the field.”Pienaar said earlier this season he preferred playing at scrumhalf but his feelings about the flyhalf role have probably been discussed with Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.Jooste said the tour would serve as preparation for next year’s series against the British and Irish Lions touring team but victory in all three Tests on this tour would be the main goal.Therefore, not many changes would be made to the team.”Winning is important.We have a core group to select from and if an opportunity comes up changes will be made.”Depending on how the players perform in training and what the demands are for a specific Test, changes can be made but in general we do not want to change too much.”It’s about experience and how you establish combinations.”Jooste said the players on the standby list had not been officially informed but would be told by their unions.”Sometimes the provincial coaches give players a break and then it is difficult to contact them.But they will be told to remain ready because players can be injured even in training camps.”The Springboks assemble in Cape Town in Tuesday and will begin training seriously on Wednesday.They leave for Cardiff on Friday, where they face Wales in the Millennium Stadium on November 8.Meanwhile, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has put a pile of pressure on himself in his pursuit of the goals that he has set for his squad.With the southern hemisphere looked to have taken a bit lead on the north on the rugby field in the past few years, it should be expected of the Boks to win all three of their matches on the coming tour of Wales, Scotland and England comfortably.This being so, even one defeat could be enough to cost De Villiers his position ahead of next year’s eagerly awaited series against the British and Irish Lions.The announcement that Earl Rose was travelling instead of the proven World Cup winner Butch James or the impressive Western Province flyhalf Peter Grant was made, many eyebrows were raised.James was not in great form for much of the Super 14 season, but he showed how effective he can be when the Boks returned to a structured approach for the final Tri-Nations test against Australia in Johannesburg.Apart from anything else, James is currently playing his rugby in England, and his knowledge of the conditions and his opponents could have been used to the Springbok benefit on this tour, where winning should be secondary to any other considerations.Superrugby