Munster's double ACL victim RG Snyman is "absolutely available" for his first action in almost 16 months, says Denis Leamy.
World Cup winner Snyman suffered his first cruciate ligament injury on his debut for the province in August 2020 and, just three games into his comeback, he sustained the same injury in October 2021.
The Springbok lock has been working his way back to fitness over recent months and, ahead of Friday night's URC clash with Scarlets at Musgrave Park, Reds defence coach Leamy confirmed: "Yes he is absolutely available for this weekend.
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"He has come through the last couple of days really well. Preparations are going very well for Friday night and RG is in good nick and he’s up for selection along with the other 55 players that we have available to us at the moment.
"It is exciting to have him back around the place. Obviously he is a world class player, a World Cup winner, just the energy that he has, the experience he has, even in reviews and stuff like that, he really has an awful lot of knowledge that we can draw on.
"He is a very interesting guy to pick his brain. His experiences and his examples would be really good for us going forward. It’s pretty exciting for us to have him back. We will sit down and pick the team in the afternoon but he is available for selection.
"We will see how that goes."
Snyman's team-mate Fineen Wycherley paid tribute to the character of the 28-year-old to battle back to fitness.
"Yeah, look, I think you can't shy away from the fact that he's had a horrific time since he's come to Munster in terms of his injuries," he said.
"But I think he's added to us as a squad over the last number of years in different ways.
"He's a World Cup winner and off the pitch, as a second row, I've learned a lot from him. He's been very helpful to a lot of the younger lads coming through and he's quite a positive figure even though it's been a tough time.
"When the team is going well and things like that, he gets behind us, and when the team is going poorly, he's a man to pull you up.
"Even when he's not playing himself, he's been a great character around the building and it's just fantastic for him to be back on the pitch and doing what he loves - and getting his opportunity at the weekend, hopefully, coming back into the Munster team and playing in Cork."
Snyman's return is very timely given the news the province received last week, that Tadhg Beirne will be out for 10 weeks after an ankle operation.
" The guy is a class act and we are very lucky to have a number of returning second rows, you think of Tom Ahern and Edwin Edogbo coming back as well," Leamy remarked.
"Getting these guys back really strengthens our squad and allows us to have selection headaches which is always a good thing.
"It is unfortunate to lose Tadhg at such a crucial part of the season but that is the way the game goes, that’s the way the game is and we just have to move on. It’s great to get those boys back and hopefully they can add to us."
Munster are right into the business end of the URC campaign and Leamy acknowledges it is a boost not just to have Snyman available again, but also a trio of players back from Ireland duty with Gavin Coombes, Jack Crowley and Roman Salanoa returning.
It's great to get these boys back from camp and bringing back the experiences they've had," he said. "They've added so much in the last couple of days. The boys trained very well today. We'll sit down and see what the team is later today."
Pressed on Coombes' situation as he tries to push his way into Ireland's well-stocked back row, Leamy commented: "With Gavin, he's in great form. He understands he needs to be patient, he's working really hard on the aspects that he's been given to work on.
"It's just being a patient game, we're blessed with so many talented back rows in Irish rugby, and Gav understands that.
"It's about putting together a body of work that's strong, he's improving in the contact areas and tackle, and how he moves.
"Gav is well up for that, he's a really good learner, he's applying himself really well, he's just got to be patient. I honestly believe he's got a big future ahead of them."
Friday's game is Munster's fourth last of the regular URC campaign and Leamy admits the target is to get into the top four to secure a home quarter-final.
"Absolutely, but we have to go through the process first as we have done from day one," he said. "We approach this week on week, we are very focused on the task in hand, the next battle, the next job and that’s the Llanelli Scarlets this week.
"They have been playing very well, very good attacking team, loads of talent in terms of pace and the ability to play. We have to focus and get that job done really, really well on Friday night.
"Hopefully we will get a big crowd to support us, we are going to need that vocal support that the Cork crowd bring. Hopefully we can start by putting in a good performance this week."
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