RG SNYMAN LUMBERS into the cosy makeshift media room tucked away behind the building work at the Dexcom Stadium – where they’ve made a good start on the new top-class facilities and a big North Stand – and folds his towering frame into a normal-sized chair that suddenly seems tiny.
The South African second row has just come from Leinster’s changing room, which was rocking only minutes ago as the eastern province celebrated their bonus-point win over Connacht. The westerners were just across the corridor of the prefab building having their post-match chat while listening to Leinster’s roars.
Snyman is wearing the same happy grin that seems to have been on his face at nearly every moment this season. The 29-year-old was outstanding for Leinster in Saturday’s win over Connacht, scoring a try, throwing eight offloads, and impressing in the lineout and collisions.
It’s fair to say he’s enjoying life with Leinster so far.
“Yes, having a lot of fun,” says the two-time World Cup winner.
“It’s good to be back on the field and everything’s going well at this stage for us. We’re playing well, I’m settling into the group a bit more and it’s good to get ball in hand and just go and live out every little bit of talent I have out there, you know?”
His try celebration in Galway showed how much fun Snyman is having. Having scooped up a loose ball and pirouetted over to dot down, the 6ft 9ins second row pretended the ball was stuck to his hand before using his foot to rip it off – alluding to his remarkable one-handed grip of the ball when he’s looking for his characteristic offloads.
“I couldn’t really get the ball out of my hand,” says Snyman with a big smile.
“I was just trying to get rid of it, I’m very aware of the shot clock.”
Why wouldn’t he be enjoying this? Leinster have secured five bonus-point wins from five games, with Snyman starting the most recent three of them.
In starting three consecutive games for Leinster over three consecutive weekends, Snyman has already done something for his new team that he was never able to do in his four seasons with Munster.
Injuries blighted his time with the southern province, limiting him to just 20 appearances in that four-year spell. That said, he was important in their URC success in 2023 and his world-class talent has been obvious for a long time with the Springboks.
So Leinster knew they were getting a top-class player. And an injury helped Snyman to settle in quicker, with a foot issue ending his Rugby Championship with the Boks and allowing him to get back to Dublin quicker, which Snyman says was “the silver lining.”
He and his wife, Saskia, who works for Ernst & Young in Dublin, are enjoying life in the capital.
“It’s obviously a lot bigger than Limerick so there’s a little bit more to do,” says Snyman, “that’s probably the main thing.”
“We obviously enjoyed our time in Limerick as well but the boys have been very welcoming and we’re settling in very well.”
Snyman was keen to stay in Ireland but when Munster told him they wouldn’t be re-contracting him into this season, he was worried.
He and his wife were enjoying life here and so, the offer from Leinster was well received.
“Ja, it was obviously a bit of a difficult time because we really wanted to stay so when the offer from Leinster came through, it was a nice blessing for us,” says Snyman.
“We really appreciated the offer when it came through. For a foreign player, playing for Leinster doesn’t happen that often so it’s something special and definitely something that I cherish because I know not many guys that’s not from here get that opportunity.”
Snyman understands that Leinster and Munster are long-time rivals but he had to do what was best for his career and personal life.
Given his relationship with Jacques Nienaber and the quality of players in Leinster, their offer was impossible to resist. Snyman doesn’t think his decision caused any great unease within the Munster squad.
“I think the guys understand it very well, the players. The way the fans and people on the outside will react is another thing, but you have to embrace that all the same.
“Obviously, if you do certain things, you expect certain outcomes but it’s embracing it, that’s the thing.”
And that’s why he wasn’t too worried about the sections of Munster fans who booed him two weekends ago at Croke Park as he was being replaced.
“I guess it was where you were seated,” he says. “Where I walked off, to be honest with you, I experienced the cheer because I looked up and it was mostly Leinster fans sitting on that side of the stadium. It was all positive.
“It was only afterwards that some of the guys who were on the other side of the pitch came to me and said, ‘Are you OK? We’re with you’ but to be honest, I very much enjoyed all the reactions from the crowd and how they got involved.”
With his new team-mates increasingly reading his intentions when it comes to the offloads and his understanding of Leinster’s lineout systems continuing to grow, Snyman is already feeling at home.
It’s a different set-up to Munster’s and Snyman is enjoying his fresh start.
“I think the environment here is quite unique in the sense that there’s so many international players at one club, so the standard would naturally be a lot higher, but it’s good to be in such an environment the whole time,” he says.
“Every week, I think it just brings the best out in everyone.”
Hopefully, competition for places will ensure the motivation doesn’t fall off. Reading some of the Leinster fans comments, it appears that a majority are very dismissive of Dragons. However, their display last weekend proves that they’re much better than last year and no walkover. 20k in Aviva will feel like an empty Stadium so Cullen & Conan must keep this combination focussed on a strong performance.
@Des Lamont: I think you are right and the game will be much closer than the 28 point spread.
I really hope that Clarkson and Deeny can show that they’re now established and pushing for regular starts.