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London - South Africa flyhalf Ruan Pienaar has agreed to his release from the Sharks and will join Ulster at the start of September, it was announced on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old, who was part of the 2007 World Cup-winning set-up and also plays at scrumhalf, is currently part of the Springboks squad competing in the Tri-Nations but had agreed to his move to Ulster in May.
Pienaar, who will join fellow South Africa caps Johann Muller and Pedrie Wannenburg in Belfast, was delighted with the agreement.
"I'm very excited about the change - I have been thinking about going to the Northern Hemisphere for a couple of seasons now and when the opportunity to join Ulster came up I was very interested," he said.
Pienaar's two-year deal will commence on September 1 although he will be allowed to play for South Africa if selected for their Tri-Nations finale against Australia on September 4.
Ulster operations director David Humphreys said: "We're delighted to have concluded the contract negotiations around Ruan's move to Ulster. I would like to thank the Sharks for their help in the matter and for agreeing to Ruan's early release from his Sharks contract.
"We look forward to welcoming Ruan to Belfast in September. He is without doubt one of the biggest signings made in Ulster Rugby's history and I'm confident that he will be a key asset to us both on and off the pitch."
