Francois Pienaar

Francois Pienaar (born 25 January 1967) is a South African rugby player (in the flank position), captain and coach. He is most famous for having captained the Springboks during their 1995 Rugby World Cup victory.

Pienaar was born in the town of Vereeniging, into a working-class Afrikaner family. After completing high school in Witbank, he won a scholarship to the Rand Afrikaans University, where he studied law.

He made his provincial debut for Transvaal Province (now the Golden Lions) in 1989. He went on to play 100 games for them, 89 as captain.

After Naas Botha retired from rugby in 1993, Pienaar was named captain of the side.

In 1994, Transvaal retained the Currie Cup under his captaincy and the Springboks also had some memorable victories. Pienaar was also voted as international player of the year by Rugby World magazine.

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. As South Africa in was in transition, and considering Nelson Mandela's high-profile support of the Springboks, Pienaar recognized that his side’s participation transcended the realm of sport. While the squad included only one “coloured” player, Chester Williams, the Springboks were seen as representing the whole of South Africa, not just the white minority.

During the tournament, the Springboks defeated Australia, Romania, Canada, Western Samoa and France. They then met historic rivals New Zealand in the final at Ellis Park. Pienaar played on in extra-time despite a calf strain and the Springboks secured a three-point victory with a drop goal from Joel Stransky.

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 60,000 fans at Ellis Park, but also for all 43 million South Africans.

In 1996, Pienaar was controversially dropped from the Springbok side, after 29 caps, by coach Andre Markgraaff, who accused him of feigning an injury during a match.

Pienaar subsequently left for England, where he became player-coach for the north-London club Saracens. Under his leadership, they defeated 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.

In 2000, Pienaar retired as a player and became Saracens’ CEO. As a consequence of the club’s lack of success during the two following years, Pienaar stepped down as coach and CEO in 2002. In the same year, he returned to Cape Town, South Africa, where he currently (2004) still lives with his wife and two sons, one of whom has Nelson Mandela as a godfather.

Pienaar also co-authored the book Rainbow Warrior with Edward Griffiths in 1999. In November 2000, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Hertfordshire.

In 2004 he was voted 50th in the Top 100 Great South Africans (see List of South Africans)