Video had gone around only days earlier of the gigantic lock plucking a restart from the air and bowling opposing players over like tenpins as he powered toward the try line for Honda Heat in the Japanese league. He couldn’t get here fast enough.

Covid’s onset actually allowed him to arrive in Limerick a few months before his contract kicked in mid-summer of that year but any hopes of a quick start were cruelly denied by an ACL injury suffered seven minutes into his debut against Leinster in Dublin.

What followed was scarcely believable with a setback incurring more, minor, surgery, burns suffered in a firepit incident and then, three games into his return, a second knee ligament injury that necessitated another 17 months on the sideline.

It was March of this year before he came back again and, while he played a big role in helping the province secure an unlikely URC title success, he suffered another injury in the course of his efforts to back up South Africa’s 2019 World Cup success in France.

Graham Rowntree said it would be “months” not weeks before he would be available again after surgery for a shoulder-chest issue. That was November 10th and it leaves him on just ten Munster appearances and unlikely to even double that before the summer.

Munster have stood by him through the worst of all this. A second two-year contract was offered and accepted in 2022 but when South Africa called Jean Kleyn up pre-World Cup it left Rowntree and Co. with a conundrum that needed solving.

Kleyn, who has five Ireland caps, had been an Irish-qualified squad member due to residency rules. That changed when he made his debut for the Springboks against Australia in Pretoria last July. He was now, like his fellow lock, an NIQ (non-Irish qualified) player.

The IRFU has been resolute in its strategy when it comes to foreign players and the provinces, their guiding light being a priority in keeping pathways open for young Irish talent to get their chance and work through to the national team.

Two Boks in one dressing-room wasn’t an option. There had actually been speculation that both men would be moving on for pastures new in 2024 but it’s unlikely that would have ever been countenanced in Limerick, whatever about David Nucifora’s office.

So it was that a new two-year contract was announced yesterday for Kleyn who is 137 appearances and over six seasons into his time with the club. His durability alone made him the obvious choice between the two even if Snyman is more explosive and played more for the Boks in France.

Kleyn has had his own, shorter, periods out of the team with injury. Munster obviously wouldn’t be keeping him just because je clocks in more often so it bears repeating that he was named the province’s men’s player of the year for his role in claiming that URC title win.

He is still only 30, far from old for a lock, and Munster appear to be well served in the second row going forward where Tadhg Beirne and Fineen Wycherley provide further experience and the likes of Tom Ahern and Edwin Edogbo bring the promise of youth.

Munster also finalised some other business yesterday with back row John Hodnett signing on for another two years and Liam Coombes, currently recovering from a shoulder injury, putting pen to paper on a contract that adds 12 months to his tenure.

Hodnett has been exceptional in recent times. Rowntree spoke at the weekend of a player who ‘came of age’ last season and he was brilliant on both sides of the ball in their narrow loss to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.