Ireland are serious World Cup challengers in Ruan Pienaar’s book

91 per cent of this Irish island have been careful not to utter the words 'cup' and 'world' since we swept the Guinness Series but Ruan Pienaar cares not a jot

Ulster scrum-half Pienaar has bigged Ireland up after their winning performances against Australia, Georgia and his native South Africa in November. He told Ulster Rugby, 'Ireland really deserved their wins especially against Australia and South Africa. 'No-one gave them a chance against South Africa and that gave them massive motivation to perform well and that is exactly what they did. I think they will definitely be challengers for the World Cup. I think it is difficult to say who will be favourites for that competition. It will be very interesting.' Pienaar, who will miss this Friday's Guinness PRO12 clash with Munster, has praised Ireland's 'really clever coach' for turning the team into title contenders. 'You can see what Joe Schmidt did for Leinster and he has everyone working hard for Ireland and going in the same direction. 'I think that all a team needs is the backing of a coach. Technically, he is really good and everyone is buying in to what he is trying to achieve on the pitch.' Pienaar is not the only Ulster star who is set to miss out on league action this weekend. Luke Marshall (knee), Paddy Jackson (shoulder) and Chris Henry (recovering from heart surgery) all miss out while the province have yet to make a call on Jared Payne, who is recovering from a sprain.