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Munster's worst fears confirmed over Snyman; has knock-on effects for the Springboks
By Liam Heagney
The worst fears over new Munster signing RG Snyman have been confirmed - the World Cup-winning South African lock suffered an ACL tear on his provincial debut last Saturday and will be unavailable for some time to come.
The Irish province have not stated the likely recovery time for their new signing but with injuries of this nature usually requiring an operation and anything between six to nine months recovery, he will not be seen in action again until 2021.
It means he will also miss the 2020 Rugby Championship with the Springboks, which is due to be held in New Zealand in November and December.
Signed from the Japanese Top League earlier this year along with Damian de Allende, there were high hopes that Snyman would add a considerable physical presence to the Munster pack.
However, his maiden run lasted just seven minutes at the weekend, his lifters failing to keep hold of him in the air after he had pinched a Leinster lineout and he was left crumpled in a heap on the Aviva Stadium turf after his left leg crashed unaided to the ground.
A statement issued by Munster on Tuesday read: "It has been confirmed that Munster’s newest debutant, RG Snyman, sustained an ACL tear in the opening minutes of Saturday night’s Guinness PRO14 encounter against Leinster. The lock will meet with the specialist next to discuss surgery and management.
"Dave Kilcoyne and Jean Kleyn have also been ruled out for the immediate future with both players requiring rehabilitation periods for respective ankle and neck ligament injuries.
"The squad gathered at the HPC this morning (Tuesday) to commence preparations for the round 15 Guinness PRO14 encounter against Connacht (next Sunday), with players and coaches taking part in the next phase of the IRFU’s routine PCR testing."
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I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
Go to commentsWhatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.
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