IF YOU’RE PRESSING us to pick, it’s Jean Kleyn.
Too long have tight five players been ignored for awards both real and hypothetical. They’re the ones who make everyone else look good. Without the workhorses getting stuck in relentlessly, the flashier players tend to struggle.
Kleyn has been immense for Munster this season, starting all but two of their 25 competitive games in the number four shirt. The 29-year-old second row has played 1,437 minutes from the available 2,080 in the URC, Champions Cup, and November game against South Africa XV.
Right now, Kleyn is on a run of 18 consecutive starts for Munster. That’s some going for a player who is involved in so much heavy contact.
In fairness, Kleyn has been a bit of an unsung totem for Munster for some time now, even if he has clearly improved in this 2022/23 campaign. His strengths have always been around the maul and ruck. His work is of the donkey variety.
He has continued to do it aggressively well for Munster this season. Kleyn has hit 381 Munster rucks, according to Opta’s data. Only Gavin Coombes has hit more with an impressive 396.
Kleyn has been effective at the attacking maul and a nuisance at the defensive maul. He has also continued to be a key part of the lineout, predominantly winning ball at the front and chipping in with six steals, as well as being an excellent lifter.
Defensively, Kleyn has been Munster’s busiest tackler with 258 tackles at a completion rate of 89%, which has him ahead of Coombes’ 245 total tackles at 80%.
Kleyn has carried in the tight as always and while his rate of passing hasn’t hugely gone up this season, he has looked more skillful and confident in this aspect of the game than before.
“All the tight five, we’re being asked to do a lot more in terms of carrying the ball to the line, being able to play those inside, outside balls, blind sweeps, that kind of thing, playing the ball out the back,” said Kleyn earlier this season.
“There is a lot of that being asked of us whereas maybe in previous years we weren’t being used to our full potential.”
On top of all the rest, Kleyn has been extremely disciplined this season. Conceding only 13 penalties while amassing so many playing minutes is not an easy thing to do.
As Munster go up against the Stormers in Saturday’s URC final, it’s a big boost that Kleyn is available having come through the return-to-play protocols after his head injury in the semi-final win over Leinster two weekends ago.
Kleyn was a standout in the superb 26-24 win over the South African side in Cape Town last month, making some big plays at key moments.
It now looks like Kleyn will team up with the returning RG Snyman, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony, and Coombes in a first-choice back five of the Munster scrum this weekend. They will surely bring fire and brimstone.
Most minutes for Munster this season:
- Shane Daly – 1,720
- Gavin Coombes – 1,554
- Jean Kleyn – 1,437
- Antoine Frisch – 1,341
- Malakai Fekitoa – 1,286
At 6ft 8ins and 121kg, Kleyn is a big human being but the reality is that he’s not all that unique for a native South African lock. There are a crop of players of these dimensions who try to get professional contracts every single year there. Some of them go on to be Test stars, of course, but others don’t have the careers Kleyn is enjoying.
Kleyn will tell you that he struggled with handling skills and a few other basics early in his career but he has worked and worked to get better. Whether he adds to his five Ireland caps or not remains to be seen, but he’s already a success story. Kleyn is married to a Galway girl, Aisling, and their first child was born this year. They’ve built a house in Limerick and he’s here for good now. It’s been some journey.
So Kleyn would be a popular choice as Munster’s official player of the season but he has competition. For starters, Coombes has a big claim as the successor to Jack O’Donoghue for the award. Coombes already won it in 2020/21.
The Skibbereen man has played 1,495 URC and Champions Cup minutes in a rather relentless campaign. His performances have been consistently good, particularly after he was dropped from the Ireland squad last autumn. Coombes bounced back almost instantly from the setback with a string of outstanding displays.
His work-rate has already been highlighted above but we should also note that he has made 286 carries this season, according to Opta. That’s an average of more than 14 carries per appearance. He has also beaten 48 defenders, passed 112 times, and offloaded on 13 occasions.
Tadhg Beirne has been as brilliant as ever and has played more than 1,000 minutes for Munster on top of all of his Ireland efforts, which captain Peter O’Mahony has also done.
That’s good stuff from two players who so clearly love playing in the red jersey. Either would be a worthy player of the season.
Antoine Frisch has had a superb first campaign with Munster after joining from Bristol last summer, racking up 17 appearances in the URC and Champions Cup for 1,279 minutes and showcasing his creativity throughout. He’s been a great addition.
Back row John Hodnett has had a strong season, hooker Diarmuid Barron has pushed onto another level, Jack Crowley has become first-choice out-half after shining at inside centre, and 35-year-old Stephen Archer has been as consistent as ever.
But it’s hard to look beyond the Munster back three for the fiercest contenders to Kleyn for player of the season. Once again, Mike Haley has been brilliant at fullback, offering ultra-solid basics and showing much more of his ability on counter-attack having clearly been given license to do so.
Wing pair Calvin Nash and Shane Daly are likely to be among the most popular options for Munster fans when they’re discussing the province’s best player of the campaign. They’re real contenders.
Daly has played in 22 of Munster’s 25 URC and Champions Cup games [as well as the crucial friendly against South Africa XV]. That gives him an astonishing 1,634 minutes of competitive game time. He probably would have played every single game but for being on the Emerging Ireland tour.
The durability has been impressive and Daly is a superb example of how Munster’s attacking palate has broadened this season. His roaming performance in the URC semi-final win over Leinster was the best illustration of how Munster’s wings are no longer confined to holding width and chasing kicks. Daly was everywhere, using his full skillset to contribute.
Nash missed that win over Leinster, with Keith Earls a superb replacement on the right wing, but he has been first-choice for most of this season.
Limerick man Nash is now 25. He has been invigorated by the new coaching staff and appears to be a far more confident player, which is no surprise given that he’s started more games this season than in the previous two combined.
Nash was named in Andy Farrell’s wider Ireland squad last November and, like Daly, played for Emerging Ireland earlier this season.
Nash has been thoroughly involved every time he plays for Munster, racking up plenty of touches and producing a squad-leading 17 linebreaks, with Daly close behind on 15.
Nash’s 51 defenders beaten stat is the best in the Munster squad, while it has also been noticeable how he and Daly have used their passing games regularly.
Defensively, we’ve seen the Munster wings backed to be proactive and aggressive. That does mean low tackle success rates but that’s something defence coaches like Denis Leamy factor in when asking wide players to hurt the opposition attack.
What’s certain is that Daly and Nash, or Earls if he starts, will have some big decisions to make in defence against a dangerous Stormers side on Saturday.
What will give Munster great heart is that they have so many players who come into this final on the back of strong seasons.
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