Springboks lock RG Snyman has been ruled out of Munster’s Investec Champions Cup round of 16 clash against Northampton Saints on Sunday.
Snyman has missed a lot of time with Munster due to injury, but this time he is unable to play in the Irish province’s match due to illness.
Tom Ahern, who will now partner captain Tadhg Beirne, has taken the position of the second-rower in the starting lineup. Jack O’Donoghue has also joined the team as a replacement.
Another setback for Munster came when Shane Daly was knocked out during training. Simon Zebo moved to the left, and Seán O’Brien into the lineup on the right flank.
All of this follows John Ryan’s unsuccessful bid to overturn his punishment and game-day absence.
RG Snyman’s appearance stats
However, Snyman’s latest setback has seen a stat surface highlighting just how injury-struck his career at the Irish side has been.
Four years after joining the side from Japanese side Honda Heat, Snyman has played just 13 times for Munster with just one appearance coming in the Investec Champions Cup.
More so, he has never started a match for Munster at Thomond Park in either the United Rugby Championship or the Champions Cup. In fact, he has started just seven times in total for the men in red.
While Snyman didn’t play a Test match for the Springboks in 2021 or 2022, he racked up 11 appearances for South Africa last year.
Much was expected of the talented World Cup winner when he arrived at Munster, and fans were excited by the prospect of him and Beirne packing down in the same second-row and alternating with Jean Kleyn.
However, that is still yet to be the case, as Snyman and Beirne were set to start together in the second-row for the first time this weekend against Northampton.
Snyman will leave Munster at the end of the season to join Irish rivals Leinster.
Updated Northampton Saints v Munster teams
Northampton: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Juarno Augustus, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 George Hendy
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Seán O’Brien, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tom Ahern, 4 Tadhg Beirne (c), 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Mark Donnelly, 19 Jack O’Donoghue, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Shay McCarthy
Venue: @Cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 12:30 GMT
Referee: Mike Adamson (SCO)
Assistant Referees: David Sutherland (SCO), Jonny Perriam (SCO)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (SCO)
