Pienaar, who is considered to be an Ulster legend, will be facing his former team for the first time after leaving the club for Montpellier and then joining the Cheetahs.

With his 18 points against the Glasgow Warriors in round one, Pienaar currently leads the scoring charts in the PRO14. Last week Pienaar scored the teams’ first try of the season and contributed with the boot by landing five conversions and a penalty.

The Ulster flyhalf, Billy Burns, who had a good outing in their 38-14 win over Ospreys, says that they will have to keep a close eye on Pienaar.

“I don’t know Ruan personally. I watched him a lot when he was here and he was an incredible player.

“We will definitely have to mark his card this weekend.

“I think that there are a few guys who are looking forward to the trip to South Africa and catching up with him. He was here for a long time and I’m sure that he has lots of good friends in the team.

“We will have to make sure that we do the appropriate business with him I guess.”

Meanwhile, the former Wallabies lock, Sam Carter, played against Pienaar when the scrumhalf still represented for the Springboks.

Carter remembers playing with Pienaar for the Barbarians and he believes that the halfback brings leadership and calmness to the Free State franchise.

“That was a long time ago. I actually remember playing with his for the Barbarians in 2016, he was a part of that squad.

“He had a presence and a great deal of leadership and calmness around him.

“I’m sure that the Cheetahs will have that direction from him on Saturday night, and that is something that we will have to minimise if we are to get a good result.”

In their two previous meetings, the Cheetahs have not been able to beat Ulster. In what was the Cheetahs first-ever match in the PRO14, Ulster, beat the South African 42-19 at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast, and last season the teams shared the spoils with a 39-39 draw in the City of Roses.

Saturday’s clash between the Cheetahs and Ulster at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein kicks off at 18:15.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport