Pienaar Number Presented Him With

Ienaar is arguably most famous for being captain of the first Springbok team to lift the World Cup Prior to the World Cup the Springboks were only seeded ninth and were not expected to dethrone the incumbent champions Australia who had not lost a game in the preceding 12 months Pienaar was also voted as international player of the year by Rugby World magazine.


During the remarkable post match presentation ceremony Nelson Mandela wearing a Springbok jersey bearing Pienaar's number presented him with the Webb Ellis trophy During his acceptance speech Pienaar made it clear that the team had won the trophy not just for the fans at Ellis Park but also for all South Africans Pienaar is portrayed by Matt Damon in the movie Invictus released in December which focuses on the story of the World Cup.





Pienaar subsequently left for England where he became player coach for Watford based club Saracens Under his leadership they defeated the London Wasps to win the Pilkington Cup and also finished second in the Zurich Premiership During the next two seasons they secured third and fourth spots in the Zurich Premiership thereby qualifying for the European Cup on consecutive campaigns.