MUNSTER ATTACK COACH Mike Prendergast said the long-awaited return of World Cup winner RG Snyman next month heading into the business end of the season is a huge boost.
The Springbok, who was 28 last month, is finally set to put his injury nightmare behind him and will make his return either against Scarlets at Musgrave Park on 3 March or against Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park three weeks later.
Snyman has endured a torrid time since joining Munster almost three years ago and is still battling back from his second cruciate injury, having played just 54 minutes across four games for the province.
He suffered his first cruciate injury just eight minutes into his debut against Leinster in 2020 before suffering a set-back in his recovery and also sustained burns in a firepit accident in Limerick in June 2021.
The giant 6’9” lock made his comeback for Munster in September 2021 with three appearances off the bench but then suffered his second cruciate injury in his third game back against the Scarlets.
Munster extended his contract with a new two-year deal in January 2022 which will keep him at the province until the summer next year at least.
“RG Snyman is developing very well over the last two weeks,” said Prendergast. “It’s been a challenging time for him over the last two seasons so to see him back among the lads and integrate back in and really ramp up his training is positive. He’s a world class player.
“He is obviously very resilient as a human being, that is first and foremost. I have only gotten to know him over the last six months. A really, really good guy, a real positive guy.
He has been through tough times, but any time I meet him or you come into the building and you pass him by he is always very positive and he always tried to stay with the group as much as he could in terms of input.
“As much as he could he was in our videos in terms of after games, before games where we were analysing teams, just to keep up to speed.
“You’d rely on the experience he has and I think we have included him well there. Look, we are here now, he is around the corner, and I suppose without looking back too much, we are all looking forward and so is he.
“He is really, really excited, we are excited, the players are excited, it is a huge boost I think for the club and it is a really good time to come back into it after a long spell out.”
Munster are currently preparing to take on Ospreys at Thomond Park on Friday evening in the first of three successive home games in the URC between now and March 25 before facing two trips to South Africa in April for a Champions Cup showdown against the Sharks and then returning a fortnight later for league games against the Stormers and then the Sharks again.
Their second row crisis is continuing to ease with the promising duo Thomas Ahern and Edwin Edogbo close to returning, while Gavin Coombes, Keith Earls and Roman Salanoa have been released from Irish camp and Prendergast said they would be considered for selection against the in-form Ospreys.
“They definitely come back into selection. We haven’t the side decided yet, so we will sit down this afternoon. We would have assessed how the boys trained and they have trained very well,” added Prendergast.
“They are obviously coming back full of confidence and very positive, but definitely with a lot of hunger as well. They were boys who were only within touching distance away from being on the pitch.”
