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Leicester Tigers lose Eli Snyman to the URC
By Ian Cameron
Leicester will lose the services of Eli Snyman at the end of the current season, with the South African lock returning to Benetton Treviso in the URC.
Snyman has signed with the Italian outfit until 2026, returning to the Italian club he left in 2021.
The 6'7, 110kg lock has made 34 appearances for Tigers so far and will be hoping he can help the side to a second successive Gallagher Premiership title in the next few weeks.
The 27-year-old represented the Springboks Under-20s in 2016 before making his Currie Cup debut for the Bulls in the same season. His Super Rugby debut for the Bulls in 2019 before originally signing with Treviso ahead of the 2019/20 European season.
"Eli has been a big part of the Leicester pack during these past two seasons, playing a key role both on the pitch and as a leader for the young players in his position," said Leicester boss Richard Wigglesworth. "I enjoyed the opportunity to play alongside Eli last season and for the first part of this season and equally so the chance to have coached him during that time.
"He's been a great contributor to Leicester Tigers and we thank him for that, as well as wishing him all the best for the next stage of his career back in Italy with Benetton."
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Latest Comments
I agree it needs looked it. Most clubs and nations are now identifying talent long before they are capped and directly influencing what country they represent. Not all teams obviously but it's certainly a trend.
It used to be that an electric 22 years old winger would announce himself for the ABs by scoring on debut in the July tests. Announce themselves on the big stage playing for their country. Nowadays if they’re scouted at 14 or 15 and developed elsewhere, you've no idea where they may end up.
Most young talent I see nowadays I have to Google them to get an idea of what international Jersey they might even wear.
The only thing that keeps the discussion on Ice is probably the boks. They don't go overseas for talent and their RWC record speaks for itself. On the flipside most of their talent plays club rugby outside of SA which is another can of worms.
Go to commentsAgreed. Just to add to that the hitherto leaky Crisaders defence was resolute and enabled them to establish an amazing 31 to zip lead at the 60 minute mark. A couple of late lapses allowed the dangerous Drua attack to reduce the final margin somewhat but the game was virtually won by then. Only criticism would be the number of handling mistakes made but the steamy playing conditions probably contributed to that. Not many teams come away from Suva with such a comfortable margin. Pity they were unable to show the same fortitude against Moana.
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