Ulster fans had been resigned to losing scrum-half Ruan Pienaar to Toulon next season, but reports in France today suggest that the move might not be going ahead after all.
The South African international has wowed audiences over the last couple of years with a number of brilliant performances at both scrum-half and out-half, but seemed destined to leave at the end of the season amid reports that a move to reigning Heineken Cup champions Toulon had been all but sewn up.
A report in today’s Midi Olympique, however, suggests that the move could have fallen apart as Toulon have allegedly switched their attention to Castres scrum-half Rory Kockott, who played a big part in Castres’ Top 14 success next season.
A report in L’Equipe, who broke the story about Pienaar’s Toulon link last month, suggested that Kockott had already signed a three-year deal with Toulon and although his agent has denied that any agreement is in place, he did admit that Kockott will make a decision on his future next month.
"Kockott has not signed anything with any club. First we'll meet with Castres, then the player will decide [on his future] in November," Xamma said.
Whether it was a change of heart by Toulon or by Pienaar himself, it appears as if the deal could well be dead in the water at this stage and Pienaar could end up staying at Ulster, which would be a huge boost considering his impact on the province since his arrival in 2010.
Nothing has been confirmed and probably won’t be for some time so we wouldn’t advise Ulster take it for granted that Pienaar won’t be moving on at the end of the season, but there are certainly more reasons to be cheerful about the prospect than there have been in recent weeks.
