Springbok lock Jean Kleyn ruled out for the rest of the season

Jean Kleyn is set to miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on an ongoing eye issue, delivering a hammer-blow to both Munster and South Africa.

The World Cup winner picked up the injury initially against Leinster in November, and while head coach Graham Rowntree originally expected him to be out until the new year, the severity of the injury has been revealed this week in an injury update from Munster.

The injury was confirmed ahead of Munster’s crunch clash with Toulon in the Investec Champions Cup at the Stade Mayol, where the reigning United Rugby Championship winners are searching for their first win in Europe this season.

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Kleyn is part of what is already an eye-watering injury list at Thomond Park, with his Leinster-bound South African second-row partner RG Snyman also out with a chest/shoulder injury sustained in the World Cup final in October. Those are just two of an exhaustive list of players in absentia, although Oli Jager, Fineen Wycherley, Alex Nankivell, Niall Scannell, Peter O’Mahony, Joey Carbery and Patrick Campbell are all possibilities to play against Toulon, Munster have confirmed.

Ireland back row Jack O’Donoghue, meanwhile, will see a consultant this week to see whether he will require surgery on a knee injury or not. The two-cap international suffered the injury against Connacht on New Year’s Day, a game where Munster suffered a heavy injury toll.

While Kleyn is out of the remainder of Munster’s campaign, it is unclear as to whether he will be back for the Springboks for their July Tests against Ireland (who Kleyn previously represented) and beyond.

With Munster languishing in tenth in the URC and facing games against Toulon and the high-flying Northampton Saints in the ‘must-win’ category in the Champions Cup, being without two World Cup winning second-rows is not ideal.