Munster Rugby's Jean Kleyn: 'RG Snyman's resilience is insane'

THERE was a welcome sight for Munster Rugby supporters yesterday as the province's World Cup winner RG Snyman took a part in their warm-up and skills sessions during their training session at Thomond Park.

South African second-row Snyman is working his way back to fitness after two serious knee injuries which have reduced his number of appearances for the province since joining Munster before the start of the 2020/2021 season to just four. 

Munster's Jean Kleyn was fulsome in his praise of the resilience 27-year-old Snyman had showed during the time he has been sidelined with injury.

Kleyn said: "I actually can't commend the man more. He's had two years from hell in terms of not just his injuries, but family bereavements, being away from home as well during all of this. I think it speaks volumes of his character that he's still coming in every day, big smile on his face, always involved.

"He has been sitting in on meetings for the last two years and still trying to add even though he knows he's six or eight months out - obviously that's six to eight months ago.

"There's not a single fella that's not excited to have him as part of the team and back in training, back on the pitch. He's a fella that slotted in incredibly well from the start, he's an incredibly likable guy. His resilience is insane. I've never met a fella who has gone through more and maintained a more positive mindset. It's astonishing.

"I'd say if I was in the same position, I would just have thrown the towel in.

"Nothing seems to be able to keep him down for too long. He's a phenomenal guy. We're all very much looking forward to seeing him on the pitch again. He was involved during the warm up and a bit of skills today and you can just see that the man is just an athlete.

"He's a 6' 10", 135 kilo athlete, which is scary. So we're all looking forward to seeing him involved again. He's going to be a massive benefit to the team." 

The Munster squad is currently preparing for Sundays's crucial Heineken Champions Cup meeting with Toulouse at Stade Ernest Wallon, 3.15pm Irish time, live on BT Sport.