Having rained on Jean de Villiers’ parade in the series to determine the best Springbok skipper, Gary Teichmann now faces the next challenger to come out the tunnel.

Teichmann won 66% of the vote in last week’s captain’s run. Now he faces Francois Pienaar, who led the Boks to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the first major tournament held in post-apartheid South Africa.

Pienaar was praised by late president Nelson Mandela for his leadership in helping to unite all of South Africa behind the Springboks.

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The loose forward debuted as Bok captain in 1993 and held the position for all of his 29 Tests. He was named International Player of the Year in 1994 by Rugby World magazine and Rugby Personality of the Year by Britain’s Union Writers’ Club.

Also a lawyer, Pienaar never shied away from taking on the rugby establishment. In 1995, the successful Currie Cup-winning skipper led the Transvaal (now Lions) provincial players in a strike, which helped transform rugby from an ostensibly amateur to a fully professional sport, and acted as a recruiting agent for Australian media mogul Kerry Packer’s World Rugby Corporation, to help fast forward the game into the pro era.

Pienaar ended his playing career as captain of English club Saracens, and then served as coach and CEO in 2000.

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