Rugby

RG Snyman in contention to make Munster return vs Scarlets

Oli Jager, Jeremy Loughman and Conor Murray all released from Ireland camp and could feature on Friday night

RG Snyman could well make his first Munster appearance of the season on Friday vs the Scarlets. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho

John Fallon
Tue Feb 13 2024 - 18:17

Munster are hopeful that double World Cup-winner RG Snyman will finally make his first appearance of the season when they travel to Llanelli on Friday evening as the URC resumes with a clash against Scarlets.

Snyman, who is joining Leinster in the summer after an injury-ravaged spell that has seen him play just 10 games since his debut in 2020, has not featured for Munster since coming on in the URC final win over the Stormers last May. He underwent neck and shoulder surgery after helping South Africa to victory over the All Blacks in the World Cup final.

Forwards Coach Andi Kyriacou said they would see how the 29-year old came through Tuesday’s heavy day of training before making a call on playing the Springbok. If they decide he is not ready, then he will probably make his return in a friendly clash away to Harlequins next week.

“He should hopefully put himself in contention for being selected at the weekend,” said Kyriacou. “He’s been doing everything in training. He had a good couple of tough days working, and now we’re just going to keep assessing how he’s going from today.”

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The champions are currently 11th in the table, but they are just a point outside the quarter-final places and 10 points adrift of leaders Leinster, so the return of the giant lock would be a huge boost heading into the second half of the season.

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“I’m expecting a lot from him over the next few months as he rounds things up here,” added Kyriacou. “He’s probably our most experienced player in terms of knock-out rugby. He has these great little chats with all players, young and old, and just pulls people with him. Two World Cups, got himself fit for the backend of last season and our run-in, so he’s just got huge leadership, and the way he speaks and conducts himself around the place is phenomenal.”

Munster came with a surge in the business end of last season to end over a decade without a trophy and Kyriacou said they are gearing up for a similar onslaught this term after an injury-ravaged opening half to the season.

“We’ve readdressed a few things, and that’s what we’ve been focusing on in the last two or three weeks. Having that week off, and getting a few bodies back in and on the field, it’s allowed us to kind of up our training in terms of the intensity we can bring. We showed last year when we did that, we saw the benefits of it on-field. The Crusaders game was great for that as well, in terms of giving lads confidence in what we are trying to do.”

Munster completed the opening half of the season with four wins, four losses and a draw but aside from the possibly return of Snyman on Friday night, they are also boosted by the availability of Oli Jager, Jeremy Loughman and Conor Murray, who have been released from Irish camp to play in this game.

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