How Old Is Francois Pienaar? Francois Pienaar Birthday
Francois Pienaar was born on January 2, 1967 and is 59 years old now.
Birthday: January 2, 1967
How Old - Age: 59
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Francois Pienaar - Biography
Jacobus Francois Pienaar (born 2 January 1967) is a retired South African rugby union player. He played flanker for South Africa (the Springboks) from 1993 until 1996, winning 29 international caps, all of them as captain. He is best known for leading South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After being dropped from the Springbok team in 1996, Pienaar went on to a career with English club Saracens.
Within a month of the World Cup's conclusion Pienaar had a stand-off with SARFU after he led South African players in threatening to join their Australia and New Zealand counterparts to play professionally for the World Rugby Corporation (WRC). Pienaar had convinced numerous Springbok players to sign with the WRC, but Louis Luyt eventually dissuaded them from breaking with the SARFU. During this standoff, Pienaar offered the black Springbok player Chester Williams less than other contemporary South African players. In purely marketing terms, Williams was second only to Jonah Lomu.
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 lives with his wife Nerine Winter and two sons, both had Nelson Mandela as a godfather.
Pienaar wrote his autobiography Rainbow Warrior with Edward Griffiths in 1999. In November 2000, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Hertfordshire.
Pienaar was also involved in South Africa's failed bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup in 2005.
