Victor Matfield has underlined the importance of a fit and firing RG Snyman to the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup title defence in France later this year. DYLAN JACK reports.
Snyman recently made his first Vodacom United Rugby Championship start for Munster since recovering from the second of his knee ligament injuries that forced him to spend over a year on the sidelines.
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The 28-year-old won’t be involved in Saturday’s match against the Sharks due to concussion protocols, but already showed in helping Munster become the first team to win at Cape Town Stadium this season that he is quickly back to his best.
Speaking on a Vodacom URC media roundtable on Tuesday, Matfield was asked about his former Vodacom Bulls understudy.
“It’s so nice to see RG back. I was fortunate enough to coach him as a 19-year-old. He came from school straight into our structure at the Bulls,” Matfield said.
“He is one of those once-in-a-lifetime players. The skill level that he has with his size is just unbelievable. It is a pity that he hasn’t been able to play for Munster in the past two years and couldn’t show the world what he can do.”
Snyman was part of the ‘Awesome Foursome’ of locks – including Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert – that helped the Springboks win the World Cup in Japan in 2019.
His ability to up the intensity of the game was key to how the Springboks deployed their bench, as, together with Mostert, he enabled Rassie Erasmus to almost replace the entire tight five of forwards.
“We saw it at the World Cup, especially with how the Springboks use their ‘Bomb Squad’, the guys coming off the bench, he is really important,” said Matfield. “A guy like Franco Mostert has an engine on him and can work for 80 minutes without a second breath, but RG brings something different.
“If you need someone to open up the game, be in the midfield, get on the ball, get through tackles, make offloads, he is just unbelievable.”
Matfield noted that Snyman has become more confident and commanding at lineouts, which he says will only make the Munster man more vital to the Springboks’ cause in France.
“The one thing I have definitely enjoyed at this stage is his confidence in running the lineout. Before this, he was a youngster, so he was caught between the No 4 and No 5 positions. I like him at No 5, making the calls and running the lineout. If he has added that to what he already has, then he will be unstoppable.
“He will be very important for South Africa. I think he will play a huge role off the bench, if Eben and Lood don’t get injured. Those two will always start if they are fit. Lood is still the best in the world at running lineouts and Eben is Eben. But with RG and Mostert, we can really go for that six-two split on the bench.”
Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
