The Leinster and South Africa lock RG Snyman faces a long spell on the sidelines after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Snyman, twice a World Cup winner with the Springboks, suffered the injury in Leinster’s United Rugby Championship defeat to Glasgow last week, with scans confirming another serious set-back for the giant second row.
The 31-year-old previously injured his ACL while with Munster in 2020 before re-rupturing it just four games into his return a year later. His absence is a major blow to Leinster as they look to challenge for both the URC title and in the Investec Champions Cup.
“It’s devastating for us and for him,” Leinster head coach Jacques Nienaber said ahead of Leinster’s round of 16 meeting with Edinburgh in the Champions Cup.
“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.”
Snyman swapped Irish provinces at the start of last season having appeared just 20 times across four seasons at Munster due to injury.
He is likely to miss most, if not all, of the Springboks’ international fixtures this year in a blow to Rassie Erasmus’s lock stocks.
South Africa open their year with an uncapped fixture against the Barbarians in June, before hosting England at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park in the inaugural Nations Championship on 4 July.
