Ulster optimistic about Pienaar injury

Editor

Ulster have been boosted by the news that influential scrum-half Ruan Pienaar might be fit to face Exeter in the Champions Cup this weekend.

The former Springbok scrum-half suffered a knee injury in his team's loss to Bordeaux-Bègles in their Champions Cup opener and returned to Belfast in a leg brace.

But fears of a serious injury were quashed on Tuesday when director of rugby Les Kiss revealed Pienaar could yet be fit to face the Chiefs.

"We had really good news about Ruan earlier today," Kiss said. "The scan just showed a couple of things that you would expect with a jar on the knee.

"We'll just need to see how the next 24 or 48 hours go and then we'll take a decision but it looks very positive."