Injured Snyman sees surgeon but Munster have no plans to draft in replacements

Wed, 26 Aug, 2020 - 15:22

Brendan O'Brien

RG Snyman has had a first consultation with a surgeon after injuring his ACL ligament seven minutes into his debut for Munster against Leinster last Saturday, but a return date for the South African lock has not yet been identified.

Recovery from an ACL tear of the type suffered by the 25-year old could require anything between six months and a year of rehab post-surgery. Munster senior coach Stephen Larkham did state on Wednesday afternoon that it is “not good news” so far.

“He came over here with a goal to become part of this team and he had been training exceptionally well for us,” said the Australian. “We had been very excited to have him here as well and he knew there was a fair bit of expectation. It is devastating news."

Munster have also had to absorb the loss of Jean Kleyn, another second row, to a neck ligament injury while prop Dave Kilcoyne lasted just eight minutes against Leinster at the weekend before damaging ankle ligaments.

As with Snyman, it is too early to understand the full extent of their issues but neither man is available for this coming weekend's Guinness PRO14 game against Connacht in Dublin when Munster may be in need of points to be sure of a place in the playoffs.

Another concern is James Cronin who injured a groin in training last week and did not play against Leinster. Larkham described him as “touch and go” for the next assignment and the province is already without Joey Carbery on a longer basis.

That's a lot of key men missing from key areas as they approach such an important juncture in their season but Larkham was firm in his assertion that there will be no new players drafted in from elsewhere to alleviate the pain.

“No. Not in the short-term. We are definitely focused on playing the game this weekend and finishing off this season best we can,” he explained. “We have got a couple of young guys in the academy if you look from a five eights perspective.

“We've got Ben Healy, Jake Flannery and Jack Crowley who have been training with us for the last couple of months. We have a lot of confidence in those guys. We certainly feel they understand the system quite well so we are quite comfortable putting those guys in if we need to.

"From a second row perspective, Tadhg Beirne is back which gives us a little bit of debt. Billy Holland is all good. Fineen Wycherley is back as well. It is timely for those guys coming back in.

“We've also got some academy players, Thomas Ahern is showing a lot of promise. Paddy Kelly also. Both are good young prospects who we would be very comfortable putting in the main team."

Larkham made the same point about the situation at loosehead prop, highlighting the likes of Liam O'Connor and Josh Wycherley as candidates to step up and fill the gaps if required although he did add that some are prepping on both sides of the scrum and acknowledged that there is a shortage of props in the country as a whole right now.