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Snyman's serious injury sparks debate about the role of his Munster lineout lifters

(Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Another notable name was added to the Munster injury list this weekend when new signing RG Snyman – the World Cup-winning Springbok – came off just seven minutes into their Guinness PRO14 contest with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. 

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The province revealed the worst possible news on Tuesday that the second row had torn his ACL and is set to be absent for six to nine months.  

This not only slashes through his two-year stay at Thomond Park but also throws his chances of making the Springboks squad for the British and Irish Lions tour next year into jeopardy, let alone any Test fixtures before then.

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England forward Courtney Lawes guests on All Access, the RugbyPass interview series hosted by Jim Hamilton

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England forward Courtney Lawes guests on All Access, the RugbyPass interview series hosted by Jim Hamilton

The injury came when Snyman landed awkwardly following a steal at the lineout, an incident that has prompted an online discussion regarding the responsibility of his Munster lifters. 

Many lineouts are completed in a match without any problems, but there is always an inherent risk in this set-piece. Moreover, the risk is greater in defensive lineouts where the players are far more impulsive as they are reacting to what the opposing players are doing. 

This potentially prevents the lifters – and even the jumpers – from being as secure and stable as the team throwing into the set-piece more or less know where to be and what to do in the process. 

As a consequence, a player like Snyman can be left in a hazardous position. His lifters last Saturday were Billy Holland and Peter O’Mahony and while they didn’t ensure the South African landed as safely as possible, they can hardly be blamed as it is not that uncommon to see a player free-fall to the ground. 

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https://twitter.com/TNODonoghue/status/1298199070247456768

https://twitter.com/DHaych80/status/1298187630316847104?s=20

https://twitter.com/Runningflyhalf/status/1297244098949271552?s=20

Lifters do have a duty of care at every lineout to ensure their teammate – and their opponent – lands safely, but there are often mitigating factors. 

A crooked throw can set the jumper off balance, while the player competing for the ball can cause havoc. That is understandably why players are often penalised for infringing at the lineout. 

An injury like this will always evoke questions surrounding the safety of the lineout, and law tweaks are often made to achieve that. But more than anything at the moment, all those involved with Munster will be rueing the absence of one of their landmark signings for the rest of the 2019/20 season and well into the next.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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