Graham Rowntree admits it came as a "huge surprise" to learn of RG Snyman's move to Leinster, but says he has no doubt of the player's commitment to Munster between now and the end of the season.
The South African lock will swap red for blue next season in making the move to Leinster, with Leo Cullen's side swooping in to sign him on a one year deal, in one of the biggest cross-province transfers Irish rugby has seen.
Munster had hoped to keep the Springbok lock, but those hopes were effectively dashed when Jean Kleyn became non-Irish qualified after representing South Africa in the summer, with Munster not in a position to re-sign two NIQ second rows.
Last month it was confirmed that Snyman would be leaving Munster at the end of the season, and the Munster coach says the 28-year-old's switch up the M7 came out of the blue.
"Yeah, I'm not going to lie, a huge surprise," the Munster head coach said.
"Obviously I wasn't fully aware of where he was going, I knew there was chat of him going to Bath to see my old mate and his former coach Johann [Van Graan]. There was chat of him going back to South Africa, but I was surprised [he went to Leinster], yeah."
It's the second time in just under two years that Leinster have picked up a South African lock from their rivals, with the province also bringing Jason Jenkins to the RDS following his season with Munster in 2021/22.
Snyman has played just 10 times since joining Munster in the summer of 2020 due to two significant knee injuries, while he's currently sidelined until March as he recovers from surgery on his chest/shoulder.
However, Rowntree (above) says he expects the double-World Cup winner to play a significant part for the province later in the season.
"It's a business, this, isn't it? I sat down with him in the first week of November, and said there wasn't a contract for him, unfortunately.
"Within a couple of weeks this news is upon us that he's gone to Leinster. There we go, we deal with it, we row on.
"I have no doubt in his commitment to us to the end of the season. I've already seen that in the last couple of days in particular, I've no doubt about that commitment. It is what it is.
"I'm not frustrated, no. We can't determine where he goes. I'm the bloke sitting in front of him saying there wasn't anything for him. We cant determine where he goes.
"It's not like we've been out-bid by Leinster. We had nothing for him. That's business. I'm quite able to move on, I have more things consuming my mind at the moment than this. There we go."
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was also speaking to the media today ahead of the sides' meeting in the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday, and says Snyman's desire to stay in Ireland was the factor in them beating Bath to his signature.
"I think people have whatever conspiracy theories, it's quite simple in many ways. You get offered a player, is he of interest?" the Leinster coach said.
"I think you heard RG talk himself. He loves it here in Ireland. He’s been here, what, three-and-a-half years, and would loved to have stayed on, he’s not able to do it in Munster because of how’s that’s played out for those guys with Jean Kleyn there as well.
"We happened to be in the right place for a player that’s keen to stay on this island so it’s not that much more complex.
"When a player like that gets offered to you you’ve to give it some consideration and because of what he’s achieved at the top end of the game, particularly two World Cups."
While Snyman has been influential in two World Cup title wins with the Springboks, his injury profile has led some Leinster fans to have reservations around the move.
However Cullen says the positives far outweigh the risks.
"Of course there is risk when you bring in any player," he said.
"The safety net for us is he's been in the country. Yeah, the injuries, people want to look at that part, you weigh the positives with the potential downsides and that’s the risk assessment that you do there, but everyone is getting a bit sidetracked with all these other potential things that are in the pot but it’s a lot more simplistic than that," he added.
Elsewhere, Munster flanker Peter O'Mahony (below) is unlikely to be ready for the St Stephen's Day Interpro at Thomond Park.
The 34-year-old has been sidelined since picking up a shoulder injury in their win against the Stormers in November.
Having initially hoped O'Mahony could have returned for last week's Champions Cup meeting with Exeter, Rowntree has revealed the injury is healing slower than expected, with their former captain unlikely to be ready for the meeting with Leinster on Tuesday.
"It's not quite ready, it's quite simple," Rowntree said of O'Mahony's shoulder.
"There's no conspiracy theory here. He's had a sore shoulder, we tried to bring him in last week, he wasn't quite ready. We tried this week, and it's looking like it's not going to be ready for this week either.
"That's the nature of injuries. He's a warrior, is Peter. He can take pain, he's played with pain for us before, but the very functional limb, his shoulder, we can't mess around with it. I'm not going to lie to you, it's unlikely we'll see him on next Tuesday, the St Stephen's Day game."
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