RG Snyman: Munster stint were the ‘toughest years’ as Springboks lock reveals the club he almost joined
RG Snyman has opened up on his stint at Munster and his decision to join Leinster.
Springboks lock RG Snyman says he would have re-signed at Munster if the opportunity had arisen, despite enduring the ‘toughest years’ of his life at the club.
Snyman’s time at the Irish province was severely hampered by injury after he suffered back-to-back ACL injuries, meaning he made just 20 appearances for the club, a tally he has already bettered during his first campaign with Leinster.
Following the conclusion of the 2023/24 season, the second-rower made the move to Leinster from Munster after the latter opted to hand fellow lock Jean Kleyn a contract extension instead of him.
Because Kleyn was no longer Irish-qualified, having used World Rugby’s birthright transfer to represent the Springboks at the World Cup, Munster were not able to have two NIQ (non-Irish qualified) players in the same position in their squad due to the Irish Rugby Union restrictions.
Backlash from Munster fans
With his contract expiring, Snyman was left looking for a new club and Leinster swooped in with Jacques Nienaber contacting the lock.
With Leinster and Munster being fierce rivals, fans of the latter were understandably upset with the move and while Snyman did catch some heat online, he understood why.
“Most of it [the anger] was directed at me. There weren’t a lot of people seeing my side of it, I guess rightfully so as well, because you can understand the frustration from the fans, given the four years I had there, it was obviously difficult for people,” he said on the Big Jim Show.
“And then going to their biggest rival, but it was a decision that was kind of taken out of my hands in one sense a little bit because if I had the opportunity back then to stay at Munster, I probably would have. But the opportunity wasn’t presented to me.
“I was going somewhere and it was a big thing for us to try and stay in Ireland. We enjoy the people here, we enjoy the culture and it’s actually it was a little bit of a crazy story because obviously, I was looking at where I was going to go next.”
Finding a new club
Snyman revealed that he considered joining Premiership club Bath with ex-Munster boss Johann van Graan taking charge of the side but instead stayed in Ireland.
“I was looking maybe joining back up with Johann van Graan at Bath, and then Jacques phoned me from Leinster and that’s a big opportunity and I guess everything kind of just worked out in that way for us to stay in Ireland and join a great club work with Jacques again. So it just fell into place and while the opportunity was there, I had to grab it,” he added.
Snyman said that he used the backlash he received only to motivate him at Leinster but went into further details as to why his stint at Munster was the toughest of his life.
Not only did he have complications with his recovery from the two long-term injuries after going under the knife but a fire pit incident also left him with burns, which only added to his woes.
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Tough stint at Munster
Additionally, his mother passed away during what proved to be an incredibly emotional four years at Munster.
“The four years at Munster were probably the toughest years of my life,” he stated.
“That’s why say that I will always be grateful to the people I met there and the people who supported me there. I don’t think I would have coped with it as well if I wasn’t in that environment.
“I’ll always be grateful for my time there and the lessons I’ve learned there.
“I got there during COVID. The same was split up, so I didn’t even get to meet everyone when I got there. Then the pre-season goes well, first game in the Aviva, no fans, played against Leinster and seven minutes into the match I jumped in the lineout – ACL injury. So now I’m a little bit like ‘Okay, everything’s going to be fine’. I went through the surgery and do everything to get back but a few complications toward the end of it so it took a little bit longer.
“Then there was the infamous firepit incident which is a discussion for another day but I had to deal with that and then in that period as well, I also lost my mom during that kind of middle of COVID block. So that was a really tough time for me. The emotional stress.
“Then got back out playing and thought that I could finally do my bit for the team and played three games from the bench, in the third game against the Scarlets away, I caught the ball from the kick-off and tried to step off my left foot and I could just feel my knee blows up again, the same knee. The physio came on to do a test on the field and I said, ‘Don’t even bother, it’s gone’.
“It was a little bit more complicated this time with the MCL side of it, but got through all that, get back and then we won the URC.”
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Rugby World Cup
After playing a pivotal role in winning the Rugby World Cup with the Springboks in 2019, Snyman failed to make an appearance for South Africa in 2021 and 2022.
Having helped Munster win the URC, the second-rower was able to mark his return to international rugby in 2023 and secured his spot in the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup squad.
He again would play a crucial role in the famed ‘Bomb Squad’ but unfortunately sustained an injury in the final.
“I lucky made the World Cup squad but in the last ten minutes of the final, I tore my peck and had to make that phone call back to Munster afterwards to say ‘Listen, bad news again’,” he said.
“I’m not trying to make it out like it was all negative but it was a really tough time for me and I learnt a lot through those experiences… I never really understood what resilience meant but I feel like I have a good idea of what it means now and that’s also something that drives me going forward is remembering those times.”
