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Jean Kleyn's season ending injury could be worse than first thought
By Ian Cameron
An injury for Springbok second row Jean Kleyn - which has already ended his Munster season - could be worse than originally thought it has been revealed.
Munster confirmed back in January that the lock had opted to undergo surgery on a knee issue and will not return to play this season.
However, the Rugby World Cup winner injury woes may since his initial diagnosis in January may have deepened according to RTE pundit Bernard Jackman, who was commentating on the Bulls versus Munster match in Pretoria this afternoon.
Jackman - known for his inside lines on Irish rugby - revealed that the injury could be worse than previously feared, prompting Kleyn to travel to America for specialist consultation.
Originally injured in a match against Leinster in November, the prognosis means Kleyn could also potentially miss parts of next season too.
It's really poor news for Munster, who will lose fellow Springbok giant RG Snyman to Leinster next season.
There are also obvious concerns about his ability to return in time for the Springboks' July Tests against Ireland. Kleyn - who has also donned the Irish jersey in the past - faces a prolonged recovery that casts doubt on his availability for the upcoming international fixtures.
Kleyn began his professional career with the Stormers in Super Rugby before moving to Munster in 2016.
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Mallia deserves 8 at least. Brains and skills for the comeback. Him, Garcia and Albornoz the core of The Pumas attack. Hope to see them in the 15s against France
Go to commentsYeah nar I pretty much agree with that sentiment, wasn't just about the lineout though.
Yeah, I think it's the future of SR, even TRC. Graham above just now posting about how good a night it was with a dbl header of ENGvSA and NZvFrance, and now I don't want to kick SA or Argentina out of TRC but it would be great if in this next of the woods 2 more top teams could come in to create more of these sort of nights (for rugby's appeal). Often Arg and SA and both travel here and you get those games but more often doesn't work out right.
Obviously a long way off but USA and Japan are the obvious two. First thing we need to do is get Eddie Jones kicked out of Japan so they can start improving again and then get a couple of US teams in SRP (even if one its just a US based and augmented Jaguares).
It will start off the whole conferences are crap debate again (which I will continue to argue vehemently against), but imagine a 6 team Pacific conference, Tokyo Sunwolves (drafted from Tokyo JRLO teams), Tokyo All Stars (made up of best remaining foreign players and overseas drafts), ALL Nihon (best of local non Tokyo based talent, inc China/Korea etc, with mainland Japan), a could of West Coast american franchises and perhaps a second self PI driven Hawai'i based team, or Jagaures. So I see a short NFL like 3 or 4 month comp as fitting best, maybe not even a full round, NZvAUSvPAC, all games taking place within a 6hr window. Model for NZ will definitely still require a competitive and funded NPC!
On the Crusaders, I liked last years ending with Grace on the bench (ovbiously form dependent but thats how it ended) and Lio-Willie at 8. I could have Blackadder trying to be a 7 but think balance will be used with him at 6 and Kellow as 7. Scott Barrett is an international 6 sized player. It is just NZ style/model that pushes him into the tight, I reckon he'd be a great loose player, and saders have Strange and Cahill as bigger players (plus that change could draw someone like Darry back). Same with Haig now, hes not grown yet but Barrett hight and been playing 6, now that the Highlanders have only chosen two locks he'll be playing lock, and that is going to change his growth trajectory massively, rather than seeing him grow like an International 6.
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