Wynand Pienaar

Wynand Christo Pienaar (born 5 August 1989 in Welkom, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Griffons.[1] His regular position is fullback.

Wynand Pienaar
Full nameWynand Christo Pienaar
Date of birth (1989-08-05) 5 August 1989
Place of birthWelkom, South Africa
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight97 kg (15 st 4 lb; 214 lb)
SchoolWelkom Gimnasium
UniversityUniversity of South Africa
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fullback
Current team Griffons
Youth career
2005–2007 Griffons
2008–2011 Sharks
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012 UP Tuks 2 (0)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 Boland Cavaliers 6 (5)
2014–present Griffons 59 (69)
Correct as of 1 July 2019

Career

Youth and varsity rugby

He represented his local provincial side the Griffons at almost all youth levels; he played for them at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2005 and at the Under-18 Academy Week in 2006. He also played in the Under-18 Craven Week tournament twice – in 2006 and in 2007. In 2006, he was a member of the Griffons U19 squad that played in the Under-19 Provincial Championship (as a 17-year-old) and the following year he played for the Griffons U21 side in the 2007 Under-21 Provincial Championship.

He then made the move to Durban to join the Sharks Academy. He played for the Sharks U19 side in the 2008 Under-19 Provincial Championship and for the Sharks U21 side in the 2010 Under-21 Provincial Championship. Despite being named to the Sharks XV Vodacom Cup squads in 2010 and 2011, he failed to make a first class appearance for them.

In 2012, he moved to Pretoria to play Varsity Cup rugby for the UP Tuks as they won the competition for the first time, with Pienaar being involved in two of their regular season matches.

Boland Cavaliers

He joined Wellington-based side Boland Cavaliers prior to the 2013 Currie Cup First Division season[2] and made his first class debut for them in their match against the Leopards by coming on as a second-half replacement.[3] He scored his first senior try in a match against his old side the Griffons, as Boland beat the Griffons 55–35 in Welkom.[4]

Griffons

Pienaar made his return to the Griffons in 2014, joining them prior to the 2014 Vodacom Cup season.[5] He contributed 22 points to the Griffons' cause during the competition – the third-highest by Griffons players – which included kicking five conversions in his first match for the Griffons in their 62–10 victory over the Limpopo Blue Bulls[6] and scoring two tries in their final match of the season against the Falcons in Kempton Park.[7]

He was a key member of their 2014 Currie Cup First Division-winning side. He played off the bench in the final and helped the Griffons win the match 23–21[8] to win their first trophy for six years.[9]

At the start of 2016, Pienaar was diagnosed with phase two Hodgkin's lymphoma and had to undergo chemotherapy every fortnight for six months. He beat the cancer and returned to full training with the Griffons after again being contracted for the 2017 season.[10]

gollark: HERESY!
gollark: I have an SSD. I still have to wait 25 seconds. So sad.
gollark: Nope.
gollark: My laptop gets ~25 seconds from hitting the power button to a usable desktop, much of which is spent in firmware, but I *do* have to enter the encryption key and password.
gollark: Odd.

References
  1. "SA Rugby Player Profile – Wynand Pienaar". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  2. "Boland-spens 6 ryker; Vyf studente, veteraan op pad na Wellington" (in Afrikaans). Die Burger. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  3. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Regent Boland Cavaliers 17-45 Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Down Touch Griffons 35-55 Regent Boland Cavaliers". South African Rugby Union. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  5. "Drie Griffons-staatmakers tree uit" (in Afrikaans). Volksblad. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Down Touch Griffons 62-10 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  7. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Valke 17-41 Down Touch Griffons". South African Rugby Union. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  8. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Down Touch Griffons 23-21 Valke". South African Rugby Union. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  9. "Currie Cup Griffons win First Division title". Sport24. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  10. "Griffon oorwin kanker, oefen volstoom". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). 9 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
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