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Ruan Pienaar had an interesting birthday outing. (Gallo images)
- Ruan Pienaar expressed his gratitude to teammate Rosko Specman for helping him fulfill a birthday promise in the Cheetahs’ win over the Sharks in the prep series.
- The Cheetahs patron had told his sons that he would score a try for them on their 37th birthday and his friend Blitzboks gave up his own score to make it happen.
- More importantly, Pienaar believes he once again reinforces the legend of Specman, a breaker with the heart of a team man.
Ruan Pienaar was indebted to his Cheetahs teammate and Blitzbok star Rosko Specman for helping him fulfill what could have been a rather difficult birthday promise.
The former Springbok stalwart and central franchise patron turned 37 on Wednesday, hours before his team faced the Sharks in a preparation series meeting in Bloemfontein and, at the urging of his sons, told them that would score a try. his birthday.
That moment came in the eighth minute, when a perfectly weighted pass from Cheetahs center Chris Smit found fullback Clayton Blommetjies, who beat a defender to free Specman for the scoreboard.
However, just when it looked like the winger was going to fall, he threw the ball at Pienaar.
Rosko Specman steps over the test line before selflessly passing Ruan Pienaar. (Gallo images)
“That was hardly rehearsed,” said the veteran scrum half with a smile.
“Apparently he tried to give me a nice birthday present. My kids will be especially happy. They asked me to do a try on my birthday, so I had to make them a promise.”
Nonetheless, Pienaar believes the gesture is just part of a Specman legend, a man with immense game-breaking abilities but the heart of the best team man.
“He lives for the team, despite the magic it can offer. Daily and weekly, Rosko does his best and never drops his standards. I am grateful for the ‘present.”
To cap off an interesting evening for him, Pienaar, who kept the pace of a very open game, had the ignominy of missing one of his easiest kicks to goal in a distinguished career, although he could be forgiven for it.
In fact, kicking from the spot was one of the last skills he was able to work on again following his rehab from a serious knee injury at the start of Super Rugby Unlocked last year.
“Frans Steyn was a bit tired at the time. To be honest, I was too, so I hit the ball too far to the side,” Pienaar admitted frankly.
“Obviously I’ll have to do some work on that aspect of my game yet, I’ve only had two proper sessions of kicking again since the injury.
“I wasn’t particularly happy that he was throwing the ball at me, but it’s a skill I’m proud of and I’ll work on. I can’t miss those kinds of kicks in the future.”
