Life

TV review: What a real shame Ruan Pineaar has to go

With behind-the-scenes footage, the programme looks at Pienaar's life and his final weeks in Northern Ireland
With behind-the-scenes footage, the programme looks at Pienaar's life and his final weeks in Northern Ireland With behind-the-scenes footage, the programme looks at Pienaar's life and his final weeks in Northern Ireland

Pienaar, BBC1, Monday, 10.45pm

In the seven years Ruan Pienaar has been part of Ulster Rugby, he has made an indelible mark on the game and this documentary looked at the Springbok's massive impact.

Despite wanting to spend his last playing days with the side, the IRFU's succession policy has meant he is unable to receive a contract extension.

With behind-the-scenes footage of his final weeks in Northern Ireland, the programme looks at Pienaar's life - from his days as a young rugby player, making the move from his native South Africa and ultimately how he came to fall in love with the north.

The documentary examines his journey from a rugby-mad child, growing up in Bloemfontein, where he always dreamt of emulating his sporting heroes and playing for his country, and how he rose through the ranks of the school boy game to go on to win 88 caps for South Africa as well as lifting the Rugby World Cup in 2007.

Recounting his decision to move to Northern Ireland, ignoring his mother's fears that "Northern Ireland was one of the most dangerous places in the world", Pienaar and his wife described their feelings when they first arrived here.

The cameras were invited into his family home, meeting his wife Monique, who recalled how as they entered the unfamiliar surroundings of the former Ravenhill stadium in east Belfast for the first time, she thought, "what have we got ourselves into".

But just a few months later, "we knew we had made the right decision", she said.

Delving into the match footage of the past seven years, the documentary shows that without doubt Pienaar was worth signing, with great things happening on the pitch whenever he played.

But how refreshing it was to see what a wonderful human being he is off the pitch too - a proud family man with a strong faith, clearly doing as much good off the pitch as he has done on it.

He attends Christian events across the north with his team mates, and more than 40,000 people across Northern Ireland have heard him speak and tell his story since he moved here.

The programme also looks at the coaching he has done, especially with young children, and how he has become the inspiration to the next generation of players.

As a rugby mum, I know how highly Pienaar is regarded in my house full of boys. He's one of those players who always seems to get a mention on the way home from matches.

Now as he prepares to leave Ulster Rugby and Northern Ireland, it's clear he is as devastated to leave as the fans are, he simply does not want to go.

While the documentary focused on Pienaar's career in an Ulster Rugby shirt, it also felt like a last goodbye. It's a wonderful tribute to a player, who came across like such a genuine person, father and husband.

He has immersed himself in life here, he truly wanted to see out his career in Belfast, what a real shame he has to go.

Clique, BBC1, Saturday, 10.10pm

A dark psychological drama created by Skins writer Jess Brittain, Clique is set in the first few weeks of term at Edinburgh University.

Following lifelong friends Holly and Georgia as they study and party, their 'forever' friendship is put to the test when Georgia is coerced into joining a prestigious intern programme.

Recruited by a group of effortlessly glamorous women with their own pad and dedicated driver - what's not to like?

It's a programme that touches on competition, class and status as well as exploitation and the pressure to be part of the 'it' crowd.

But there's also that main theme of a female friendship torn apart, a struggle many of us can relate to.