Mike Prendergast admits excitement is building around a long-awaited comeback from injury for RG Snyman as the World Cup winner prepares to relaunch his Munster career in the coming weeks.
Munster will be without the South African lock this Friday when they resume their BKT United Rugby Championship play-off push with a visit to Thomond Park from Ospreys but the aim is to have the 28-year-old back on the pitch on March 3 when the province plays Scarlets at Musgrave Park in Cork.
That would bring an end to a 17-month absence for the Springbok powerhouse following the second of the two serious knee injuries he has sustained since he joined Munster in the summer of 2020, restricting Snyman to just four appearances in three seasons.
Assistant coach Prendergast on Tuesday praised Snyman’s mental strength and stressed both player and management were only looking forward to what is to come from the 6ft 9in second row.
“He is obviously very resilient as a human being, that is first and foremost,” Prendergast said. “I have only gotten to know him over the last six months. A really, really good guy, a real positive guy.
“He has been through tough times, but any time I meet him, or you come into the building and you pass him by he is always very positive and he always tried to stay with the group as much as he could in terms of input.
“As much as he could he was in our videos in terms of after games, before games where we were analysing teams, just to keep up to speed. You’d rely on the experience he has and I think we have included him well there.
“In terms of what he has been through with the medical side of things from here and the S&C, they have been really good to him from a human point of view as well.
“Obviously when you get one injury and you get two injuries one after the other that will obviously challenge you and it is a credit to our staff here and he is the first to say that, so in terms of looking after him physically, they have done a huge job but mentally also.
“Look, we are here now, he is around the corner, and I suppose without looking back too much, we are all looking forward and so is he. He is really, really excited, we are excited, the players are excited, it is a huge boost I think for the club and it is a really good time to come back into it after a long spell out.”
Friday night’s game against Ospreys is also eagerly anticipated as Munster resume their league campaign having overcome a shaky start to the season following the arrival of a new coaching st
