Snyman's ACL injury 'devastating' - Nienaber
Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber says it's "devastating" to lose second row RG Snyman for the rest of the season due to a ruptured ACL in his right knee.
Snyman will miss the rest of the season [Getty Images] Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber said it's "devastating" to lose second row RG Snyman for the rest of the season due to a ruptured ACL in his right knee. The two-time World Cup winner with South Africa suffered the injury in Leinster's recent 38-17 defeat by Glasgow in the United Rugy Championship (URC) and it was confirmed the 31-year-old's season is over. It's the third time Snyman has suffered an ACL injury with his first occurring as a Munster player in 2020 before a reoccurrence just four games into his return the following year.
Nienaber, who has coached the player for club and country, has backed Snyman to bounce back but admits it is a crushing blow for the player and for Leinster who are preparing for Sunday's Investec Champions Cup last-16 game against Edinburgh Rugby at the Aviva Stadium (17:30 BST). "It's devastating for us and for him," Nienaber said at Tuesday's news conference. "He had a couple [of ACL injuries] when he was with Munster, but he has shown [he can come back from injury] over and over.
" 'Edinburgh have the ability to put you away' In better news, Leinster will have front row Andrew Porter available who came through their weekend URC win over Scarlets, while James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong, Jimmy O'Brien and Garry Ringrose will continue to be assessed in the build-up to the European clash. That 36-19 win over Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium on Friday saw Leo Cullen's side put two URC losses behind them to move up to fourth in the standings as the club season hits the business end. Nienaber was happy with that bonus-point win, but knows his side must build on it in a knockout game against an Edinburgh team smarting from their defeat by the Stormers last week despite the return of Scotland trio Grant Gilchrist, Darcy Graham and Pierre Schoeman.
"We are excited to be going into Europe," Nienaber added. "If you don't deliver a performance and win, you are out so we are working hard to deliver those performances. "They [Edinburgh] had some big performances when beating Toulon at home and Gloucester.