Francois Pienaar reached the highest peak in rugby union: he captained his country South Africa, to World Cup victory in 1995 on home turf and was presented the Webb Ellis Trophy by President Nelson Mandela, depicted in Clint Eastwood's blockbusterInvictus in 2009, his role portrayed by Matt Damon. Having been named Newsmaker of the Year, he is his country's most celebrated icon after Nelson Mandela. His skills in diplomacy were a clear feature in South Africa's passage from isolation to acclamation on the world rugby stage.

"Nelson Mandela appeared on the presentation rostrum wearing a Springbok jersey with Francois' number on the back"

In detail

Francois Pienaar attained a Bachelor of Arts (Law) from Rand Afrikaans University. He was appointed captain on his first international appearance, against France in 1993, and is now the most capped South African captain and arguably the world's most popular one. He has also been consistently involved in charity work with organisations such as Sargent Cancer Care for Children at the Royal Marsden Hospital, CHOC and the Reach for a Dream Foundation.

What he offers you

Francois Pienaar regularly shares his amazing journey of leadership, perseverance and remarkable human spirit. Alongside Francois' playing talents, his management skills, charisma and leadership abilities have enabled him to achieve God-like status in a country where rugby is a religion. He has proved himself an inspirational leader and is one of the few men on earth who can genuinely claim to have united South Africa behind a common cause.

How he presents

A quite remarkable athlete, a trained lawyer and an ambassador for multi-racial sport, Francois is an eloquent and articulate spokesman who is often quoted on a wide range of issues form rugby to business and from journalism to politics. His charisma, leadership and strength of character place him much in demand to speak about the game he loves with a passion all over the world.

Languages

He presents in Afrikaans & English.

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