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Out until 2024: Another World Cup winner is ruled out at Munster
Munster will negotiate the opening two rounds of their Investec Champions Cup campaign with neither of their Rugby World Cup-winning locks involved after it was confirmed that Jean Kleyn has joined RG Snyman on the sidelines.
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It was November 6 when the Irish province reported that Snyman had suffered a chest/shoulder injury during the World Cup final and was to undergo surgery in South Africa that week.
He has since returned to Limerick where it emerged last week that he won’t be kept on at the club following the completion of the 2023/24 season, an announcement that quickly resulted in him being linked with a switch to Bath who are now coached by ex-Munster boss Johann van Graan.
In contrast, Munster unveiled a two-year extension for Kleyn, the South African who played at the 2019 World Cup for Ireland and had since gone through the three-year standdown period to become eligible for Springboks selection in time for the recent finals.
Named Munster player of the year for 2022/23, he made his 2023/24 seasonal debut in the November 25 URC derby away to Leinster but an injury sustained in that hard-fought encounter means he will now miss this Saturday’s home match versus Bayonne and the following weekend’s trip to Exeter.
The excitement is palpable ?
? 2023/24 CHAMPIONS CUP FIXTURES ?
Check out the full list of pool matches ? https://t.co/LqfD5lftNo pic.twitter.com/lwjH9lwS34
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) July 13, 2023
A statement read: “Jean Kleyn will be unavailable until the new year due to an eye injury suffered in the Leinster match. He attended for a specialist review last Tuesday and Wednesday and will have further follow-up before Christmas.”
Munster also confirmed that the Bayonne fixture will come too soon for Peter O’Mahony, the Ireland World Cup back-rower who injured his shoulder in the November 19 clash with the Stormers and has since relinquished the provincial captaincy after a decade at the helm.
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“Peter O’Mahony (shoulder) is improving but will remain unavailable for the Bayonne clash. Jack Daly (ankle) and Liam Coombes (shoulder) both underwent surgery last week and will begin rehabilitation under the medical department.
“There is good news for Patrick Campbell (ankle) as he has returned to team training. Jack O’Donoghue (ankle) will also return to training this week. Simon Zebo (knee) will continue to rehabilitate early this week. The availability of Campbell, O’Donoghue and Zebo will be determined later in the week.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
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