LAST UPDATE | 27 Aug 2020
HE ONLY GOT through 6 minutes and 13 seconds of action for Munster before his left leg came to ground awkwardly, rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, but even in that very short amount to time, there were little hints of what RG Snyman can do.
He hared after the opening of kick-off of the game like a man eager to impress, showing his pace as he out-sprinted his fellow forwards by a good five metres. Only a sharp sidestep off the left foot saved Robbie Henshaw from being hammered.
There was a lift by Snyman on Billy Holland at the first lineout of the game as Munster disrupted the Leinster throw, then a scrum behind tighthead prop Stephen Archer, where Snyman’s power is certainly useful.
He showed his mobility again after Munster were awarded a free-kick and JJ Hanrahan made a snap decision to kick it long into the Leinster 22. Chris Farrell made the tackle on kick chase just before Snyman, having covered 60 metres, thundered in to ensure Jordan Larmour stayed down.
After a second scrum effort helped to launch a Munster attack in the Leinster 22, there soon came a scrum penalty against them but then Snyman went up to steal the ensuing lineout.
After making a good read, he won the ball in front of Caelan Doris but unfortunately for Snyman, Munster, and the Springboks, he came down from being launched across the lineout in nasty fashion, with his ACL tearing as his left left took the entire impact of landing off balance.
To his credit, Snyman presented the ball back for Conor Murray before reaching down to his left knee. When serious injury hits you, you usually know straight away. Snyman’s resigned, pained grimace said it all.
Though he limped off and was able to walk around post-game, it looked like a very bad one and Munster’s worst fears were confirmed on Monday. Snyman now faces between six months and a year out of the game, depending on how his rehab goes.
There is a serious amount of sympathy with the Munster for the 25-year-old World Cup winner as he now looks down the long, arduous pathway towards a full recovery.
“I know the man is a monster and, as we have seen over the pre-season, a physical freak but he is a young man as well and that’s… someone like me in the squad who is quite senior now, you have to recognise that as well,” said hooker Niall Scannell yesterday.
“He has come from halfway across the world as a young guy and he was probably very excited about putting his best foot forward for Munster and now this has happened to him. You’re probably looking after him more as a mate at the moment. He probably can’t do anything as an athlete until he gets his operation.
“I’m actually shocked at his outlook, to be honest. He seems to be such a positive guy. We’ve only known him a few months but that is great to see. He doesn’t seem too down about it and he is going to attack this. He was in the building for the first time today and we could console him but he seems so positive.
“I just hope his rehab goes according to plan but it is a disaster for him. Some of the things he had been doing in pre-season were athletically freakish and I was just excited to see him out there in the Aviva.”
A worst-case scenario would see Snyman missing the entire 2020/21 season with Munster and next summer’s Lions tour for the Boks before making his comeback for the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
But Snyman, whose two-year contract with Munster runs until the summer of 2022 will get his head down and start to work hard as soon as his operation is done.
As for his disappointed team-mates, they simply have to move swiftly on. Such is professional sport. The province say they will back their existing senior and academy second row players in the coming months, even with Jean Kleyn also now sidelined.
“Unfortunately, we just have to accept that this is the reality of our sport and while we don’t want it to be any of those guys, it’s always someone unfortunately,” said Scannell.
“From a player’s point of view, you have to keep looking after your own stuff, your own robustness and try keep performing yourself while you have the chance on the pitch.”
First published today at 06.00
