Gysie Pienaar


Zacharias Matheus Johannes 'Gysie' Pienaar is a former South African rugby union player.

Playing career

Pienaar played for the Free State and the Springboks. He made his test debut against the visiting South American Jaguars team on 3 May 1980 as a replacement in the second half for Pierre Edwards. His first starting cap for the Springboks was on 31 May 1980 at Newlands in Cape Town against the touring British and Irish Lions team captained by Bill Beaumont.
Pienaar was capped 13 times for the Springboks, scored 2 tries and converted two penalty goals for a total of 14 test points.

Test history

No.OppositionResult PositionPointsDateVenue
1. South American Jaguars18–9Replacement3 May 1980Kings Park Stadium, Durban
2.26–22Full-back31 May 1980Newlands, Cape Town
3. British Lions26–19Full-back4 14 June 1980Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
4. British Lions12–10Full-back28 June 1980Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
5. British Lions13–17Full-back6 12 July 1980Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
6. South American Jaguars22–13Full-back18 October 1980Wanderers Club, Montevideo
7. South American Jaguars30–16Full-back25 October 1980Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago
8.37–15Full-back4 8 November 1980Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
9.23–15Full-back30 May 1981Newlands, Cape Town
10. Ireland12–10Full-back6 June 1981Kings Park Stadium, Durban
11.9–14Full Back15 August 1981Lancaster Park, Christchurch
12. New Zealand24–12Full-back29 August 1981Athletic Park, Wellington
13. New Zealand22–25Full Back12 September 1981Eden Park, Auckland

Accolades

Pienaar was named the SA Rugby player of the Year for 1980.

Personal

Pienaar is the father of Ruan Pienaar, a professional rugby player and former Springbok.