But he also knows that if things go the Toyota Cheetahs’ way in Dublin, it would be a notable victory.
Leinster have been exceptional this season, winning all 10 of their matches so far and racking up a massive points differential of 227 in the process, which has earned them an 11-point lead over the second-placed Ulster and 16-point lead over the visitors in Conference A going into the clash.
Pienaar, however, knows that giants can be slayed, and while few would back his side to win, he believes that if the team plays to their potential, they can create an upset.
“Over the years they (Leinster) have built an identity and culture that everyone buys into,” said Pienaar. “They’ve also got a lot of senior players that have been around for a long time, and who have won trophies.
“All those youngsters that back them up know what is expected of them when they get the opportunity to wear the jersey.”
He added: “They keep the ball really well, their work rate is good, and they work really hard for each other, so it is hard to find a weakness. But there has to be a day where you can pounce.
“For us, we have to focus on our game and what we want to do, and hopefully that is good enough to get a result.”
Despite some Leinster players away on Six Nations duty for Ireland Pienaar insisted that his charges didn’t expect less of a challenge.
“We know they have a big squad of quality players that they can choose from,” said the veteran Springbok scrumhalf. “They have had players away in the Six Nations in the past and they didn’t drop in terms of their quality.
“As a young group of players, we see it as a massive challenge, and we are looking forward to playing them.
“We play in the competition to get challenged every week and that is how we grow as a team.”
Pienaar welcomed the prospect of facing one of the best teams in the competition in their first tour match, saying: “We started (the season) off well and then we went off on a tough tour.
“If we had won in Connacht it would have been a great start to the tour.
“We had a few red cards along the way which made it difficult, but we are slowly finding our feet again.
“It is also a bit disruptive, because you play for two weeks, have a week off, play again, and then have two weeks off. So to go away now on a three-week tour will help the players bond. It is something we need at this stage.
“We are positive, we worked really hard in the last few of weeks and now we have to focus on what we have to do and how to handle the pressure moments and score when we have the chance.”
The Toyota Cheetahs will face Ulster and the Dragons in their remaining tour matches.