Munster have been dealt a double hammer blow with Graham Rowntree confirming that World Cup winner RG Snyman is set to be out of action for months with a shoulder and chest injury picked up playing for the Springboks.
And the Munster head coach has also confirmed that outhalf Joey Carbery is also set to be missing for months as the scale of the wrist injury he suffered the weekend before last against Benetton becomes more apparent.
Meanwhile, Rowntree said that the URC champions face a “challenging” battle to hold on to another World Cup winner Jean Kleyn who has been linked with a move next summer to Lyon.
Rowntree, whose side are unbeaten after three games in their defence of the URC title, head to Belfast this Friday for their first derby game of the season against Ulster.
But he and his management will have to plan without Snyman and Carbery for a string of games in the coming months, including the pool stages of the Champions Cup.
Snyman, who has only managed 10 games for Munster since his high-profile move in the summer of 2020 after suffering two cruciate injuries and other setbacks, is due to undergo surgery this week in South Africa as the 28-year old Bulls product deals with the latest injury setback.
“Devastated for him,” said Rowntree. “He can’t get a break. He’s having an operation in South Africa on Friday this week, and ultimately we’ll have to see what the surgeon finds when he goes in there. That’ll give us an exact timeline but it’s going to be months, not weeks.
“He came in late last season, had a late run, himself and Tadhg Beirne to end of the season last year. The way he’s played for South Africa in the World Cup, he’s been a real force. I’m gutted for him.”
Rowntree said he was also gutted when news of Carbery’s injury became apparent, with the outhalf, who was 28 last week, making an impressive start to the season having lost both his Irish and Munster places last season.
Hopes that the injury, picked up in the 13-13 draw away to Benetton which saw him finish out the game and land the conversion to secure a share of the spoils, might not lead to a lengthy spell on the sideline have been dashed.
“He is having an operation this week and it will be months,” added Rowntree. “It will be a few months. Another one, we will see what they find when they go in there but it will be a few months.
“So it is important that we test our depth, isn’t it, around that 10 position. Joey is big shoes to fill, so we have to push these young men, we have got to get them through.”
In that regard the performance of academy player Tony Butler from Ennis in his first start at the weekend against Dragons, having only previously had eight minutes off the bench in the Covid-hampered clash against Wasps in December 2021, was encouraging for Rowntree and his management team.
“He ran the game extremely well,” added Rowntree. “Again, another lad who has progressed significantly throughout the summer and we trust him. We trust him to run the team and he did pretty well for us.
“He showed a lot of composure and a good, honest young man. Wasn’t perfect, he’d be the first to come see the coaches on a Monday morning with clips, areas where he can improve. He has a big future. I’m really excited around Tony.”
Rowntree revealed that World Cup winner Kleyn is back in Limerick and will return to training in two weeks when they will be preparing to take on Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.
But with Top 14 side Lyon apparently keen to sign the 30-year old former Irish international, who is now regarded as a foreign player after committing to his native South Africa in the summer, it remains to be seen how long they can hold on to a player who has 136 appearances since joining from the Stormers in 2016.
“Jean was sat in my office yesterday,” added Rowntree. “He’s back from South Africa. Back from his celebrations, crikey they did some celebrating. He has got a horrible haircut. RG went around skinning half the forwards by the look of it, haircut-wise. He will be back training with us on the 20th of November.
“I’d say that last week in May after the final, or it may have been early June, that Jean Kleyn committed himself to South Africa he became an NIQ, a non-Irish qualified player. He knew, we knew, all parties knew, that it was going to be challenging keeping hold on him, but those contract negotiations are ongoing and I can’t really comment any more on them.
“Of course, of course,” said Rowntree when asked if he was keen to hold on to him. “He was so important for us last season, look at the minutes he played. We knew it was going to be a challenging situation but hopefully we will get a bit more clarity on that soon enough, but it would be wrong for me to comment any more on it.”
