Ruan Pienaar set to leave Ulster

Ulster Rugby has today confirmed that Ruan Pienaar will leave the club at the end of the 2016/17 season.

The club had intentions of extending Pienaar's contract, with the extension not possible due to the IRFU's succession policy.

"I am not moving on for a new adventure or for financial reasons - I wanted to stay and I know that Ulster Rugby did everything it could to keep me in Belfast...It is sad that this will be my last season as an Ulster player but I will be doing everything to ensure that we make it a successful campaign," said Pienaar.

Pienaar has scored 777 points in 118 competitive games for Ulster to date and he was a starring member of the squad that reached the 2012 Heineken Cup final.