Lenihan: Munster's poor planning on Ryan will cost them

Bernard Jackman believes that Munster have made a serious misjudgement in allowing John Ryan to join New Zealand's Chiefs in January, while Donal Lenihan warned the move will come back to bite the Irish province.

Jackman and Lenihan were both speaking on the RTÉ Rugby Podcast and reacting to the news that the tighthead prop will leave Munster to play Super Rugby at the end of January, having only rejoined them in October.

Ryan signed a short-term contract with Munster when his contract at Wasps was cancelled following the Premiership side's financial crisis.

However with All Black Angus Ta'avao picking up a season-ending neck injury with the Chiefs, the New Zealand outfit moved swiftly to sign Ryan as his replacement.

RTÉ Rugby analyst Jackman claims that Ryan’s exit will put added pressure on Munster head coach Graham Rowntree and that the province will be left light in the scrum.

"From a Munster point of view, I’m gutted to see John Ryan go to the Chiefs," Jackman said.

"I think that’s putting a huge amount of pressure on Rowntree and while the scrum was good at the weekend, I think having him there at the start is a help, it settles everyone down. Particularly against a French side, if you can show solidity there early in the game, it will generally last the whole game.

"But I’d just be worried. [Roman] Salanoa came on and did really well and he’s a more explosive ball carrier than John Ryan but that’s going to put them under pressure.

"Maybe I was naive but I just took it as a given that they would find a way to keep him for the rest of the season.

"When it comes to the crunch later on and you go down to South Africa in the URC and you need one win or two, I think they’re a little bit light there."

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