The news this week that double World Cup winning giant RG Snyman decided to swap his red Munster jersey for the blue one of arch-rivals Leinster has added a lot of spice to the already tough Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby round over the festive weekend.
Snyman’s decision to choose the Dublin side as his new home hasn’t gone down particularly well with local fans, especially after injuries robbed Munster of seeing him in his prime in the four years he has been with the side.
In that time, he has struggled with injuries, had a skin graft for a freak fire pit accident and played more for the Springboks than he did for Munster, only getting on the field 10 times for the Limerick side.
While Snyman was expected to leave Munster it was the speed of the decision, and the choice that surprised many and while he won’t be playing in Tuesday’s trip to Thomond Park when Leinster come calling, it has been dominating the Irish rugby discourse for the better part of a week now.
Rivalry in sporting clubs is nothing new, and while professional sport will see players move to clubs that pay for their services, there still is a modicum of expectation that it won’t be to the biggest rival.
But the Snyman deal, with the news of how swiftly Leinster moved, has been greeted with surprise by Munster fans, where Snyman still hopes to play out the rest of his contract when he returns from a shoulder injury.
Even his coach Graham Rowntree was taken aback by the decision.
"Yeah, I'm not going to lie, a huge surprise," Rowntree admitted speaking to Irish media.
"Obviously I wasn't fully aware of where he was going, I knew there was chat of him going to Bath to see my old mate and his former coach Johann (van Graan). There was chat of him going back to South Africa. But I was surprised, yeah.
"It's a business, this, isn't it? I sat down with him in the first week of November and said there wasn't a contract for him, unfortunately. Within a couple of weeks, this news is upon us that he's gone to Leinster.
"There we go, we deal with it, we row on. I have no doubt in his commitment to us to the end of the season. I've already seen that in the last couple of days in particular, I've no doubt about that commitment. It is what it is."
Leinster boss Leo Cullen underlined the influence of Snyman’s Springbok World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber in the discussions.
"I asked Jacques what would we think is the right fit and that's how it comes about," said Cullen. "I think people have conspiracy theories in their mind but it's quite simple in many ways. You get offered a player of interest and I think you heard RG say himself, he loves it here in Ireland and has been here, what, three and a half years and would love to stay on.
"He wasn't going to do it in Munster because of the way it has played out there, with Jean Kleyn there as well, and we just happened to be in the right place for a player who is keen to stay on this island.
“Obviously Jacques has worked with RG at South Africa and even prior to that as well with age group teams. We’ll see how it works in the future.
“That’s the thing he knows the guy so well. He’ll fit in well, we’re excited about it. It’s a while away yet. It’s different, it’s a slightly different dynamic.”
The derby match will be key for Munster, who sit in fourth spot, six points behind Leinster and a win would not only help the defending champions’ fortunes, but give them confidence going into the new year.
Friday sees the derby round action start off with the 1872 cup, where South African coaches Franco Smith and Sean Everitt go head to head with Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh.
The match up is interesting not just for the fortunes of the coaching staff but with so many Scottish team-mates facing each other, as Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist said this week of his battle with Richie Gray and Scott Cummings.
“I don’t think there’s a derby where the players know each other so well or the teams know each other inside out,” said Gilchrist.
“There’s a bit of bluff and double-bluff. There’s a lot going on. It’s also about executing the stuff they’re going to know about us, or you as an individual, but if you do it really well, it is still really hard to stop. They’re going to know what we’re about, but can they stop it? If we play at our very best, we believe we can come out on the right end of the result.”
Friday night’s other game sees Ulster host Connacht in an all-Irish derby while Zebre will be looking to spring a surprise on Saturday against Italian rivals Benetton, the latter who have been in fine form this season.
The DHL Stormers-Vodacom Bulls game is the only South African festive derby, with the Emirates Lions game against the Hollywoodbets Sharks being moved to January 6 while Tuesday’s action also sees two Welsh derbies play out.
Fixtures
Friday
Glasgow Warriors vs Edinburgh (21.35)
Ulster vs Connacht :(21.35)
Saturday
Zebre Parma vs Benetton Rugby (15.00)
DHL Stormers vs Vodacom Bulls (19.00)
Tuesday
Cardiff Rugby vs Dragons (17.00)
Scarlets vs Ospreys (19.15)
Munster vs Leinster (21.35)
