The Viking will put steel back into Bath
THE Viking – a.k.a. RG Snyman – is expected to arrive in Bath this summer, and given the Springbok lock's close ties with Johann van Graan there is a good chance that the transfer deal will be signed, sealed, and delivered.
Before he was appointed Bath director of rugby, Van Graan was instrumental in the giant Snyman, who is 6ft 9ins and 20 stone plus (131kg), joining Munster for a three-year stint at the Irish province.
Snyman's Munster contract is up at the end of this season, and he is currently recovering from a shoulder operation following his seminal contribution to South Africa retaining the World Cup in France at the end of October.
While Munster were deprived of Snyman's presence on the pitch for long periods following treatment for burns after a fire pit accident, and then a cruciate ligament re-rupture soon after he returned to action, he has always been a big man capable of moving mountains.
It has been surprising that South Africa have not used Snyman more often in tandem with the slightly smaller Eben Etzebeth to form a monstrous second row partnership – but Springbok coaches Rassie Erasmus and Jack Nienaber have had such success with their bombsquad rotation scheme that it has been a rarity.
However, if you are looking for a cameo of why Bath want Snyman to join them, look no further than the huge impact he made to pull South Africa out of the mire in their wet weather semi-final struggle against England. With Etzebeth having a rare bad day at the office, he was replaced by Snyman six minutes into the second half.
Snyman helped to arrest the slide up front almost immediately, and as the game began to swing inexorably towards South Africa, he both started and finished the 69th minute match-turning move that put the Boks within sight of the final.
The lineout in the corner saw Snyman rise to take the catch at the front, and when he had done the bread-andbutter of delivering clean ball – and Deon Fourie had charged to within a metre of England's line – he had moved into a receiver role.
When Faf de Klerk shaped to pass from the base of the ruck, Snyman raised his arm to signal he wanted the ball, and then took the pass in his stride four metres out. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
As Snyman charged towards the English line with his shoulder lowered he was confronted by Jonny May and Joe Marchant. May was bowled over backwards by the force of the impact, while Marchant was unable to make the slightest dent, and although Owen Farrell and Ellis Genge tried to intervene, they were powerless to stop the big man from twisting free and grounding the ball at his side in almost leisurely fashion.
Moments later Handre Pollard's conversion, soon followed by his late long range penalty, saw South Africa home by a single point.
It is little wonder that Van Graan sees Snyman as the steel stanchion onto which the rest of the Bath pack can be bolted, and finally become strong enough to push for a Premiership title.
The other element of wonder will be how, after years of buying, selling, and tinkering with the Bath squad, owner Bruce Craig will be able to squeeze Snyman – along with the cohort of international players already on his books – into the increased £6.4m Premiership salary cap he has campaigned for.
After all, Bath already have an international roster which, even with Finn Russell as a marquee exemption, is as long as Snyman's arms.
A squad consisting of Snyman, Thomas du Toit, Ollie Lawrence, Sam Underhill, Will Stuart, Joe Cokanasiga, Cameron Redpath, Charlie Ewels, Beno Obano, Tom Dunn, Ben Spencer, and Ted Hill, as well as former England age-group starlets like Alfie Barbeary, Max Ojomoh, and Orlando Bailey, will cost a pretty penny.
The addition of ‘The Viking' is bound to stretch Bath's payroll to the limits of the new salary cap – which means that their rumoured bid for Henry Arundell should already be on the radar of the Premiership's independent salary cap director.
