2 weeks Ago
HE’S STILL ONLY settling into life in Dublin but RG Snyman has already ventured into Temple Bar – although not for the reasons which draw most visitors to the area. Music is a passion for Snyman and last week the Leinster lock was in attendance at the Button Factory to watch South African musicians Bok van Blerk and Riaan Benade. Spare for a thought for anyone stood behind the 6’9′′ second row.
“It was great to see a couple of South African people gather together and sing some Afrikaans songs in the middle of Dublin,” says Snyman, who also shares a love for heavy metal music with Leinster prop Andrew Porter. “I think we’re the only two that really listens to that type of music..
. I think Metallica is a great band. Guns N’Roses, like old school, anything with screaming and shouting really.
I sent some of the Mongolian throat singing that I enjoy on to Ports and I think he’s the first guy that actually enjoyed it!” Energised by his new surroundings, Snyman has hit the ground running in a Leinster shirt. The lock has already put in some big performances while stitching together starts on three consecutive weekends – a feat he never managed during his injury-troubled time in Munster. Already, Snyman looks right at home in his new club colours.
“I guess it’s just the freedom we get to play the game here within the system and within what we try and do there’s a lot of freedom,” Snyman says. “I guess we’re on the front foot and when things are going well it’s just great for me to go out there and enjoy everything single second because I also experienced the other side of it. You don’t always get to do that.
” Against Connacht last Saturday Snyman was at his imperious best, delivering the powerful ball-carrying on show in the wins against Benetton and Munster while also layering in his sublime offloading skills. Snyman’s total of eight offloads in Galway was the most by any player in a URC match in 10 years. It’s a talent he has been honing since throwing a ball around with his Dad as a kid.
“It’s just taking the risk a little bit more,” Snyman says. “Sometimes it can bite you in the ass a bit and sometimes you can make mistakes and so on, but definitely my Dad installed that into my playing style at a young age when I was growing up. As part of a dominant Leinster pack, the two-time World Cup winner has found himself in playing conditions which help bring his skillset to the fore.
“It’s almost every time you step into a new system guys are a little bit understanding where to be to expect it, but I thought the guys here got it straight away. “It wasn’t even a thing. I only see Jammo (JGP) with one eye and he’s just there and I can float the ball back and he’ll pick it up.
It has always been encouraged, but throughout my career I have always had to learn when to do it and when not to do it. Not just throw the ball away because it is easy to get into a rhythm of doing that as well so I think there is a bit of a balance in it.” The move to Leinster also afforded Snyman the opportunity to link up with Jacques Nienaber again.
If some of Snyman’s new teammates have been impressed by witnessing his talents up close, Nienaber’s seen it all before. While sharing a beer in the dressing room after Saturday’s win in Connacht, Nienaber and Snyman took a moment to reflect on their journey together. “It’s 11 years,” Nienaber explains.
“I first coached him when he was U18, I was coaching his school’s side. I coached him at schools and the U20s. RG is always like this.
“U18, I remember he was as tall as he is now, but obviously a lot skinnier as an 18-year-old. “I always think, you know when you buy a puppy..
. They’re almost like floppy, or not floppy, clumsy is the right English word! He struck me back then as clumsy, but I think if you look at [Alan] Spicer coming through now. Spicer is going to still fill out his body.
He’s still a young academy player. I’m not saying he’s clumsy, I’m saying he is still going to get strength and develop. “The same with Tree [Conor O’Tighearnaigh], who is also a tall, lanky guy.
They kind of fill their body later in life. So that was RG, but he always had skill. He always had soft hands.
He is almost a fly-half that is stuck in a lock’s body.” Snyman is also enjoying the process of getting to know his new teammates. His time alongside Joe McCarthy has been limited due to the 23-year-old’s hamstring injury, but he’s started twice alongside James Ryan, with whom he shared lineout calling duties against Munster and Connacht.
“He’s class and the way he goes about his business in the preparation before a game is also something that people can look up to,” Snyman says of Ryan. “He goes out of his way to make sure he’s 100% prepped and even the guys around him as well. “I guess I just got to see a little bit more than before [when we were on opposition teams] now.
So you find appreciation for a lot more things that you now know he’s doing and there’s a lot more I can see him doing now. “For instance, I would not really have noticed his breakdown work before. Obviously, you look at defence and you look at attack, and you look at lineouts and all of these things when you’re playing against teams, but his contributions at the breakdown and the way he approaches it is something that is really exciting.
If you see him blow guys out of the breakdown, it’s incredible. “For club level, this is probably the closest to international level that you’ll find yourself in,” Snyman adds. “I think that brings the best out of everyone and that’s why the younger guys grow so quickly and that’s why the talent is probably out there, because the ownership the guys take here regarding the game, and again, the preparation, it’s really unmatched.
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