The news that Springbok double World Cup winner RG Snyman is leaving Munster comes as no surprise, but it is likely to start a possible bidding war for his services between South African franchises.
Munster announced late on Monday that Snyman would be leaving the Irish Vodacom United Rugby Championship champions at the end of the season with the likelihood that he will be returning to South Africa after some frustrating seasons abroad.
Snyman has played more for the Springboks in World Cups than he has for Munster and it is a credit to the Irish province that they have stuck by him in spite of his injury concerns.
But now that the news is out that he will be leaving, there are already talks behind the scenes that his agent has contacted three of the four South African franchises, who are all naturally interested in his signature for the final part of his career.
Snyman is an incredible athlete, able to possess speed and talent that few of such a size have and his bomb squad role for the Springboks has made him even more sought after.
There is already confirmation that he has been in talks with the Bulls and Sharks, while the Stormers are also showing interest in his services.
The likelihood, however, is that Snyman may be too expensive for John Dobson’s budget and therefore they may well settle on their longer term plan of bringing back JD Schickerling to Cape Town.
Still, Snyman back on South African soil will have fans salivating of the prospect as he can also then push for a starting role in the Springbok side should he be able to stay injury free.
Snyman was brought to Munster by former Springbok assistant Johann van Graan and has made only 10 appearances for the club in the four years he has been there. He did play a crucial role in the closing stages of last season as Munster upset the Stormers to win the title in Cape Town and stayed fit to help the Springboks to defend their World Cup title, but arrived back in Limerick with a shoulder injury that required surgery and is likely to miss a large part of this season because of that.
While there is a lot of hope at present that Snyman may return home, the biggest threat to that is the Japanese clubs that are also on the radar for Snyman’s signature and have the financial muscle to pull it off.
The 2.06m, 131kg lock has played in Japan before, moving there after the 2019 World Cup to play for the Honda Heat after a stint with the club in 2017 as well. In his 19 games for Honda, he scored seven tries as well, including one from a kickoff that went viral on social media.
The province revealed today that Snyman ‘will depart for a new playing opportunity on completion of his contract at the end of the season’.
There was better news for Graham Rowntree as the speculation with Munster’s other Springbok lock - Jean Kleyn - was put to bed as he signed a two year contract extension to stay at the Irish province.
Kleyn, who was a key part in Munster’s run to the URC title, was named Munster player of the year in a dream season that saw him use World Rugby’s eligibility laws to switch allegiance back to the Springboks.
He was part of the Bok squad for the World Cup and was on the bench alongside Snyman in the World Cup final.
Kleyn had attracted interest from several French clubs, but was not on the SA side's radar as his asking price was too high