Profile Text
Pienaar in 2010, photo by sportsphotographer.eu /bigstockphoto.com
Place of Birth: Bloemfontein, South Africa
Date of Birth: 10 March, 1984
Ethnicity: Afrikaner [Dutch, French Huguenot, German, other]
Ruan Pienaar is a South African rugby union footballer. A scrum-half, fly-half, and fullback, he played for Sharks (Currie Cup), Sharks, Ulster, Montpellier, Free State Cheetahs, and Cheetahs, and for the South Africa national team/Springboks. He has played 88 Test Matches for his country, and was part of the 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning team.
Ruan is the son of Rida and Gysie Pienaar (Zacharias Matheus Johannes Pienaar), a rugby union player. He is a devout Christian.
Ruan’s patrilineal line can be traced to French Huguenot emigrants, Jacques Pinard, who was born, c. 1666, in Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France, and to his wife Hester Foucher.
Ruan’s maternal grandfather was named Stephanus Christiaan Du Plessis. Stephanus was born in South Africa. The name Du Plessis is of French Huguenot origin.
Ruan’s maternal grandmother was Theunis Kotze (the daughter of Theunis Kotzé and Maria Jacoba Jacobs). Theunis was born in South Africa. Ruan’s great-grandfather Theunis was the son of Coenraad Hendrik Kotzé and Anna Jacoba Coetzee. Maria was the daughter of Nicolaas Burger “Klaas” Jacobs and Maria Jacoba Kotzé.