That much was confirmed yesterday by Munster head coach Graham Rowntree who revealed that it will be March before the province sees a player who has played just ten times for them after a roll call of two ACL injuries and a firepit mishap.

Most of the season in other words. Again.

“Well, it depends how our season goes, thanks very much,” said Rowntree. “I’m being told March at this point. It’s not a small operation he has had and he’s not a small human. We’ll see how he progresses. The next month, month-and-a-half will tell us a lot. But I’m preparing myself for the worst-case scenario.” 

Brutal. There’s no other word for it.

Rowntree’s update came less than 24 hours after confirmation from the club that Snyman would be moving on next summer, four years after his celebrated arrival via Honda Heat in Japan, and that Munster’s other Bok lock Jean Kleyn would be staying.

Both are NIQ (non-Irish qualified) players since Kleyn, who had previously earned five caps for Ireland, accepted a call up to the South African squad and played a part in their fourth World Cup win on the continent.

That left Munster with at least one NIQ lock too many, and potentially two, but Rowntree took some issue with the rather binary idea that they had to choose between the two of them before ultimately offering Kleyn a new two-year deal.

“That’s a bit crude, to look at it like that. We knew it was going to be a challenge to keep both of them. We thought it was going to initially be a challenge to keep Kleyn when he decided to play for the Boks.

“Luckily we’ve got two world-class locks for the rest of the season when RG does come back but, no, it has ended up as it is. There are many implications, there is a budget implication, NIQ implication, and we have some great young locks coming through and the IRFU quite rightly want us to bring them through.

“There’s a lot gone into the melting pot and it has turned out like it has. I wish RG all the best wherever he goes. He’s been a brilliant acquisition for us, just a good fella. He’s in the leadership group, he has been good around the group. He had some dark days, a double ACL injury, he was desperately wanting to help the club.” 

If Snyman does make it back in March then he will be on course to feature in the knockout stages of the Heineken Champions Cup – on the assumption that Munster qualify from the pool stages – with the round of 16 slated for early April.

O’Mahony (shoulder) and O’Donoghue (ankle) look like featuring much, much sooner than that.

“Yeah, it’s going to be weeks but not months. I’m hoping to get them involved in European competition this side of Christmas. Pete has had another expert look at it [Monday] night, another scan on it, and we’re just awaiting a report on that.

“Jack got away with it. It’s a horrible clearout [in the Stormers game]. You see the view from behind and how his knee has survived. He’s ended up with his ankle taking the brunt of it but it’s not that bad. He’s got away with it.” 

All of which suggests O’Mahony and O’Donoghue will miss this Friday’s URC meeting with league leaders Glasgow in Cork and the European opener against Bayonne in Limerick before a hoped-for return in mid-December away to Exeter Chiefs.

Another man unavailable for the upcoming game in Musgrave Park is Simon Zebo who made his first appearance of the season against Leinster in Dublin last week but picked up a ‘niggle’ at the Aviva before coming off.

That isn’t a long-term concern either and Munster will be hoping for a swift return given the attrition rate in the back three with the retirements this season of Keith Earls and Andrew Conway and the injuries to Mike Haley and Liam Coombes.

Oli Jager, the tighthead signing from Crusaders, has started training with the squad after his arrival late last week but Munster will monitor his progression before deciding whether he is ready to feature against the Scots at week’s end.