The much anticipated Munster debut of World Cup winner RG Snyman was cut short due to a “pretty serious injury” in the seventh minute of Munster’s 27-25 loss to Leinster on Saturday evening at the Aviva Stadium.
Former Munster player Alan Quinlan spoke on Monday's OTB AM about the injury and what implications it could have for the province if the worst is confirmed.
“You could feel that sigh of despair when it happened everywhere and it's a pity for them, but they've got to dust themselves down,” Quinlan said.
The 25-year-old South African lock went down after an awkward landing in the first competitive lineout of the match, with some commenters on social media claiming that the lifters were at fault.
“I think it is just bad luck really. I saw on social media some people were giving out about the lift and that the players lifting and let go of Snyman, but he brings his right leg up and kind of swings it up into the air,” Quinlan said.
“The knee comes up and then his left leg is in that straight position and he came down from a far height there and landed on that left leg.”
“For me straight away it just looked like when you come in that straight position it’s either your posterior cruciate or your anterior cruciate."
"The anterior cruciate obviously is the more serious one that can put you out for six, seven, eight months, who knows?”
Having played most of his professional rugby in South Africa for the Vodacom Bulls, Snyman has been a powerful and dominant presence on the field for most of his career.
The injury to his knee came as a particular shock, as this was the first sign of any injury for the man from Potchefstroom since making his debut for the Bulls in 2016.
“It was just freakish. I watched him for last three or four years and he hasn't even picked up a soft tissue injury,” Quinlan said.
Munster head coach Johann van Graan brought in the towering lock to bolster his side’s physicality and skill in the forwards.
Snyman has a reputation as not only a bruising ball-carrier, but a talented passer and off-loader of the ball as well.
He played a total of 242 minutes of South Africa’s World Cup-winning campaign in Japan, being mostly utilised as part of Rassie Erasmus’ Bomb Squad.
However, his ability on the field was highlighted in his performances in the 2019 Super Rugby campaign.
He won 61 lineouts in his 10 appearances and making 93 carries for a total of 193 metres.
“He is a bit of a freak and in a good way for him,” Quinlan said.
“He's such a good player I think. He's someone that can really expand the team's game plan with his carries in his ability to get over the line.
"He has footballing ability to offload as well and get through the tackle because he is so big.”
Snyman made a significant 23 offloads during the 2019 Super Rugby tournament, assisting in two tries for the Bulls and making 74 passes.
He is no slouch on defence either, as in 2019 he only missed 16 of his 109 tackles, and won six turnovers in Super Rugby.
Van Graan would have hoped that this all-round skill would help his side against Leinster at the weekend.
“From a Munster point-of-view he's potentially gone for six or seven months now if it's confirmed that it's the ACL and it's just a bloody disaster for them really,” Quinlan said.
“It's the curse of being a new signing, I think [Munster] had very poor luck in the last few years with some of the signings."
"It's something you can't control, it's part and parcel of it, players get injured.”
However, Quinlan doubted whether the involvement of Snyman for the full 80 minutes would have seen Munster edge out the victory.
“It's going to be tough, even with Snyman and [Damian] De Allende for Munster playing well to beat Leinster and win a Pro14, it was always going to be tough,” Quinlan said.
Peter O'Mahony, CJ Stander and Jean Kleyn were all exceptional against Leinster, with Stander making the most turnovers of the weekend across the tournament.
Additionally, O'Mahony filled in the role that Snyman left in defending the lineout, lessening the impact of his loss.
The injury to Snyman will still be seen as a major blow to championship hopes of Munster fans though.
“It's a European campaign and it's trying to build momentum going forward," Quinlan said.
"Integrating so many young players just get that real feel good factor and getting Munster to look like a serious threat."
“You take someone like [Snyman] out of the team now for possibly a couple of months and it's massive for them.”
It is not just Snyman that Munster will have to do without for their upcoming clash with Connacht on Sunday at the Aviva.
Prop David Kilcoyne limped off with an ankle injury alongside Snyman, while replacement lock Jean Kleyn suffered a neck injury later in the game against Leinster.
Van Graan’s men will have to front up against Connacht, who were superb on Sunday against a poor Ulster side, according to Quinlan.
That match will come a day after Leinster play host to Ulster on Saturday at the Aviva, and will likely see Munster come up against Leinster yet again in the semi-finals of the Pro14.
Download the brand new OTB Sports App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to Off The Ball's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
