Poorte’s Dwayne Pienaar signs contract with club in America
In his absence, Dwayne was named Poorte's Players' Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year at their year end prize-giving on Friday, 2 November.
Roodepoort Rugby Club’s Players’ Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year, Dwayne Pienaar, has now signed a contract to play rugby for the Glendale Raptors in America.
Twenty-three-year-old Dwayne, a Hoërskool Monument High alumnus, was Roodepoort’s standout player in the first team this season, having ended the 2018 Pirates Grand Challenge with 12 tries, the second highest number in the competition, on the board. Dwayne played at blindside flank (number 7) for Poorte this year, and once the season was over he set off to the USA alongside his first team coach, Alwyn Hollenbach, with American side Kansas City Blues, who play in the division below Major League Rugby (MLR), the top division of rugby in USA.
According to Alwyn, they felt he could participate at a higher level and was thus taken to the Glendale Raptors, runners up of the inaugural 2018 season of MLR, for a trial. Dwayne naturally excelled in his trial game and was subsequently offered what is believed to be a one-year contract to play for the Glendale Raptors, which he duly signed.
While Alwyn admits that Dwayne will be a loss for the club and the first team, he did state that there are players who will be pulled through the ranks to fill Dwayne’s shoes. “We have a lot of youngsters we can pull up to the team to play in Dwayne’s place, but he will be missed,” Alwyn said.
He also spoke fondly of Dwayne, believing that he has the potential to play rugby for a long time. “He has a bright future, but he must just believe in himself. We all do, everyone at the club, so it’s just up to him to believe in himself,” Alwyn said.
Dwayne is currently back on home soil enjoying a well-deserved break before he heads back to the USA to join his new club on 28 November.
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