Pienaar realises his ambition as he makes the move to Saints

And the 42-year-old is delighted that the chance has now arrived, having been drafted in as the club's new scrum guru.

The South African will take over from Matt Ferguson, who spent a successful seven seasons at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

Pienaar has visited Northampton before, coming over to the East Midlands in 2019 to continue his coaching development by observing Saints’ set-up under former director of rugby Chris Boyd.

And he is delighted to be returning to Northampton in the coming weeks to get to work with the current squad when pre-season training begins in July.

Pienaar said: “When I visited Northampton previously, I was lucky enough to spend some time with the players and coaching staff, and watch a home game as well, which was amazing.

“Since that time, I had always hoped for the opportunity to come and coach in Northampton.

"It was clear how much the club means to its supporters, and that Phil (Dowson) and Sam (Vesty) are very talented coaches, so I am delighted to now get the chance to be a part of Saints on a full-time basis.

“In many ways, Northampton felt like Potchefstroom in South Africa; a town with the rugby club at the heart of the local community. So, I am very excited to arrive over the next few weeks and get started.

“I’ve watched a lot of Premiership rugby over the years, and you know that the set-piece is always going to be important, which is a great challenge for me.

“I’ve also been watching a lot of Saints scrums over the last few weeks, and I’m really impressed by the level of fight that the club’s players show every week. They often get themselves on the front foot at scrum time, and even when things might not be going their way, they have the character and grit to find a way back.

“So, I’m excited to get to work with them, continuing to grow the strong scrum identity already in place, and hopefully enabling them all to improve as a group of forwards next season.”