While we have known for a couple of weeks that RG Snyman was set to leave Munster at the end of the season, there was a massive sense of shock when it was revealed what club he was set to join next.
The Irish rugby was stunned last week, when reports filtered through that Snyman was going to link up with Leinster next summer. With Jacques Nienaber now onboard with Munster's arch-rivals, the South African influence seems set to grow at the RDS - and many Munster fans were not happy when rumours began to filter through.
Leinster officially confirmed the news on Tuesday afternoon, sealing one of the biggest bombshell moves in recent Irish rugby memory.
📜✍️ | 𝗟𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝘂𝗴𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗚 𝗦𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗮𝗻.
Read the full story here: https://t.co/FW9IuchGkT#FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/VwzDsCeS0q— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) December 19, 2023
The news has received an interesting reaction in Munster. RG Snyman was supposed to be a transformative signing for the province, but a number of severe injury issues has resulted in his impact being minimal at best. While he would play a part in their URC triumph last season, he has only featured ten times since joining in 2020.
Some were also unhappy that he would decide to join Munster's arch-rivals after they gave him a new contract while he was recovering from a major injury in 2022.
However, it sounds as though the finances on offer made this a difficult move to turn down.
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Leinster made eye-watering offer to RG Snyman
According to Rugby Pass, Leinster have offered RG Snyman an incredible €500,000 annual salary in order to convince him to move to the province. It was an offer that blew away potential competition from Bath and a number of South African clubs out of the water.
This is a remarkable move for a number of reasons.
Snyman has made only a handful of appearances at club level over the last three years, meaning committing such an amount of money to someone who has rarely been fit is quite the gamble.
As well as that, Leinster are also relatively well stocked in the second row with the likes of James Ryan, Ryan Baird, and Joe McCarthy already part of their squad.
Having worked with him with South Africa, Jacques Nienaber clearly feels that RG Snyman can be a huge part of Leinster's plans moving forward. Should he go on to star in blue, there is no doubt that will sting with the Munster fans who have backed him through all his struggles over the last three years.
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