Snyman move a shock and surprise to Munster and Leinster

It was the news that took the rugby world by surprise and the players of Munster and Leinster were no different when they heard of RG Snyman's switch between the teams.

The Irish Times broke the story last week and the move for the two-time World Cup winner, currently sidelined with a shoulder / chest injury, was confirmed by the Blues on Tuesday.

"Probably like most people, pretty shocked when I heard it, just because those kind of moves don’t happen too often, especially whatever about Leinster to Munster, Munster to Leinster in particular," Ireland and Leinster back row Jack Conan told RTÉ Sport.

"Obviously, JJ [Jason Jenkins] recently, but other than that there hasn’t been a whole lot but none that spring to mind.

"A bit shocked, the lads [management] are very good at keeping their cards close to their chest upstairs and I don’t think any of the lads had an inkling that was going on.

"It’s a great bit of business, a fantastic player, a proven winner, Jacques [Nienaber, Leinster senior coach and Springboks World Cup-winning coach] knows him very well from South Africa.

"It will be great to have him here next year but there’s a lot of rugby between now and then.

"Hopefully he can get back on the pitch for Munster in the next couple of months. I wish him the best in his recovery."

The sentiment was similar in Munster.

Head coach Graham Rowntree admitted surprise but conceded Munster offered no deal to the 28-year-old, who had played just 10 times for the province since joining in 2020.

Ireland scrum-half Craig Casey said: "I was surprised. Not [on Tuesday], obviously, because of all the rumours that had gone around last week.

"At first there was a bit of surprise but then, I suppose, you've got to see the human side of it as well.