Exclusive: add your questions for a Boards.ie Q&A with Francois Pienaar

Darragh

We have just got notice of the opportunity to interview François Pienaar, ex captain of the South African Rugby team (June 1993 to 1996).


Francois Pienaar of South Africa receives the William Webb Ellis trophy from President Nelson Mandela after the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa won the match 15-12. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

He won 29 Test caps (all of them as captain) and led the Springboks to victory in the 1995 World Cup, as portrayed in the Clint Eastwood movie Invictus, currently in cinemas.

A bit of blurb:

Pienaar was born in Vereeniging, South Africa into a working-class Afrikaner family, the eldest of four boys. After completing high school in Witbank, he won an athletic scholarship to the Rand Afrikaans University, where he studied law.

He made his provincial debut for Transvaal Province in 1989 before being selected for the Springbok squad in 1993. He was appointed Springbok captain from his very first test and remained captain until his very last, and remains one of the most successful South African captains of all time.

Pienaar is arguably most famous for being captain of the first Springbok team to lift the World Cup. Prior to the World Cup in 1995, 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 recognized that his side’s participation transcended the realm of sport, while the squad included only one black player, Chester Williams, the Springboks were seen as representing the whole of South Africa, and were hugely supported by Nelson Mandela.

During the remarkable post-match presentation ceremony Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey bearing Pienaar's number, presented him with the trophy. During his acceptance speech, Pienaar made it clear that the team had won the trophy not just for the 60,000 fans at Ellis Park, but also for all 43,000,000 South Africans.

So this is all part of Guinness's sponsorship of Irish rugby and their Area 22 initiative - they're the ones bringing Pienaar to Dublin tomorrow.

So, what would you like to ask Pienaar? We've done these for a few forums before (Damien Duff and John O' Shea the sports ones) and I'd like to give this one a good go with your help.

All questions considered and your input appreciated. Thanks so much

Darragh

athtrasna

I would like to know how he feels about Matt Damon's portrayal of him in Invictus - it's been a subject of much debate on this board and on the movie board.

_blank_

Hi folks,

Just a friendly piece of advice.

Any tomfoolery on this thread, and long bans can be expected.

Darragh

athtrasna wrote: »

I would like to know how he feels about Matt Damon's portrayal of him in Invictus - it's been a subject of much debate on this board and on the movie board.

Hey, if you could provide links to where that was discussed, I'd appreciate it

Co45

Francois, how do you feel about the newly introduced Race quotas in South African rugby?

Blisterman

Nearly 15 years after the birth of professionalism, how do you think the South Africa team of 1995 would stand up against todays top teams?

Daemos

How accurate do you think the events in Invictus are in comparison to what really happened?

thomond2006

Francois, do you think that today's gym culture is the main reason behind the increasing number of serious injuries in the modern game?

Also, I would like to get your thoughts on how (if at all) you think a backrower's role on the field has changed since you played.

dreamer_ire

Francois, if you were coaching the Irish team what would you do to enable us to have the best run possible in 2011?

corny

Hi Francois.

Best player you played with and best player you played against?

Otacon

If you were coaching the current Springboks team, what changes would you make to the squad, if any?

Would you continue with John Smit as captain, especially as he is not the first-choice hooker? Would Matfield be a viable option?

Do you agree with SARU's 'quota' system?

How well do you believe Peter de Villiers is performing as coach?

[Apologies for all the questions, opportunities like this don't pop up every day!]

uberwolf

do you believe international rugby needs to tighten it's qualification standards for players, with particular reference to South Sea Islanders.

siltirocker

Francois, who do you rate as the best player of the professional era?

Aidric

What was your assessment of the Lions tour, in particular the paltry attendences at the games outside of the tests?

Sherifu

Francois, what things(if any) would you like to see changed in the game as it is today?

What's the best game of rugby you've been involved in & best you've not?

goose06

Hi Francois,
What was the funniest thing you remember happening in a Test match.

Thanks
John

Co45

Francois, Have you ever considered getting back into coaching again?

Did being dropped from the South African squad in 1996 under such dubious circumstances affect your relationship with South African Rugby?

pappyodaniel

Hi Francois,
Where do you rate our Irish team in current world rankings, and hypothetically speaking, which Irish players (if any) would be good enough to make the Springbok side?

Podge_irl

What do you think about the current state of SA rugby with regards to their efforts at transformation? To be more precise, do you think that sufficient effort is going in to getting young black South Africans into the sport? The current "quota" arguments seem to ignore the fact that such a change takes time and forcing people into a squad is potentially harmful in the long run. Surely for young black kids to look up to players they need to know that they are there on merit (I'm not casting doubts on any particular member of the SA squad here).

Co45

Lads the quota question has been asked by 3 posters already

Podge_irl

Co45 wrote: »

Lads the quota question has been asked by 3 posters already

True, though I didn't so much wonder about the quotas at the top of the sport but rather about the efforts at the entry and youth levels of the sport.

Though seeing as it's kind of been asked before I shall put forth a different question - What are your feelings on the end of year tests by the Springboks in which they were less than successful? Do you feel it's an indictment on the team and evidence that they are not one of the great teams to grace the sport, or do you just think that it's the result of coming at the end of a long season for the players?

Ciaran-Irl

Why do you think the film makers of Invictus elected to leave out the food poisoning of the All Blacks team, despite the fact that it dominated coverage of the final?

Crash

As a back row forward, what was the cutest trick you've ever remember pulling in a game?

chupacabra

Hi francois, as a forward what are your opinions on the way rugby has gone in terms of the player size and physicality? Do you feel that the skills side of the game is being degraded as a result? And has the culture of "bigger is better" done more damage than good?

outwest

francois

do you think the winner of the Hcup and super 14 meet for a once of match like the do in rugby league.

davyjose

Hi Francois,

How did you feel about the recent ELV's? And keeping with rule changes, what changes (if any) would you make to improve the slow ball and aerial ping-pong we're seeing so much of lately?
Do you think stricter enforcement of rules at the Breakdown, etc. has helped in Super 14 so far?

Co45

louthandproud wrote: »

Given that Ireland's national side had been under achieving (the perennial 60 minute side) throughout the 90's, so you think that Ireland switch to focus on professionalism at provincial level, and national union controlled has been the right move, and is this why we have been enjoying success in recent years at 6 nations and triple crown level, or is it more to do with wrong choices being made at club controlled rival unions in the NH?

I dont understand a word of that!

_blank_

This thread is for questions to Francois Pienaar, not for people to comment on other people's questions they wish to have asked.

Post a question, post many questions, but do not turn this into a chat thread. Take it to PM or start another thread.

Let's keep this tidy, so the interviewer can easily pick out the questions, and not have to trawl through rubbish.

Thanks

louthandproud

Co45 wrote: »

I dont understand a word of that!

PM me and I will try to explain!

athtrasna

Oh and how could I forget... what do you think of the SARU's decision to trial TMO-less games in favour of the referee watching the footage from inside the dead ball area. While the position of TMO didn't exist in your playing days, it has become an important tool in high stakes professional rugby.

hefty_langer

Munster have a pretty good track record with Saffies, Halstead, Payne, DeVillier and duPreez.

Francois - how do you rate ex-Munster prop Wian duPreez and do you happen to know any other decent tightheads that would fancy an extended holiday in Munster?

Sangre

Who would win in a fight - you or Matt Damon?

Zzippy

Francois

I've read about how you met Nelson Mandela, and how he told you how important the 95 WC would be to help unite South Africa.
How did you feel the first time you met Mandela, and a few short years after apartheid how did you manage to unite a squad that included many Afrikaaners and some black players, particularly getting them to learn and sing Nkosi Sikelel?

Co45

Francois, Why do you think there is such a gap between Northern Hempisphere and Southern Hemisphere teams?

Do you think Richie McCaw deserved the IRB Player of the Year award over the likes of Du Preez and O'Driscoll?

stephen_n

Francois,

What one law change do you think would most benefit the game?

JonnyF

Hi Francois,

What was it like in the early days in Saracens with the All Star team you had there? Was it easy to fit all those different players into a cohesive team?

Thanks

Darragh

Thanks so much for all the questions, folks. Am off now to have the interview and hopefully will have it online this afternoon!

Darragh

Folks, my apologies but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for this - it's still converting on my machine - so I'll get it live and announce it as soon as I can then.

Thanks again for your questions. Great interview and he looked like he enjoyed them

twinytwo

wtf the i missed it again:(:(:(

Co45

Is it being uploaded tonight???

evysiren

Hi
In your life what are your leasures

Darragh

Thanks again everyone - you'll find the interview on this thread - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055834820 - and you can leave any comments or feedback there

Darragh