Last season, Munster were often criticised over the decision to retain Jean Kleyn at the expense of losing RG Snyman to Leinster.
I went into detail on The Conundrum that Munster faced at the time in the direct aftermath of the 2023 World Cup, but there was only ever one decision that Munster should and could have made at that point. That RG Snyman went on to have a very good — albeit with traces of flat track showpony about it — season for Leinster has no bearing on the decision that faced Munster when the choice had to be made.
Pick the expensive, incredibly injury-prone and dubiously committed, albeit higher-level impact forward for another year? Or go with the player who has spent the vast majority of his career at the club, and who had recently anchored Munster to a URC title win before then going on to become a World Cup winner for the Springboks?
There is no decision to make there. In the same circumstances, as engineered as those circumstances were by David Nucifora, most clubs go with Jean Kleyn in that scenario.
Since that decision was announced publicly — on the 27th November, 2023 — Jean Kleyn has been through a torrid time with injuries, something he had mostly avoided in previous seasons.
Between 2017/18 and 2022/23, Kleyn averaged just over 23 appearances a season for Munster. Since that contract decision was made directly after the 2023 World Cup, he has managed just 16 games for Munster across two seasons.
When that was juxtaposed with Snyman’s 22 appearances for Leinster (50% of those off the bench) and a lot of those appearances featuring highlight reel offloads against tiring opponents, it looked like Munster had gotten the rough end of the stick.
On a per-80-minute basis, Snyman played just three more games than Kleyn did, such was his usage off the bench, but that was ideal for Leinster. Snyman isn’t really capable of offering much outside of a big 20/25 minutes against elite opponents these days — only natural for a 6’10”, 135kg lock after two serious ACL injuries — but that’s all Leinster need from him, outside of stunting on some URC B-team in the Aviva that threw their hat at the fixture back in July.
Munster requires more from Jean Kleyn because, unlike Leinster in the last few years, Kleyn is one of our only genuinely heavyweight tight forwards who can operate at a high level.
At his best — and he eventually showed this last season once he got a run of fitness together — Jean Kleyn is a difference maker, but that is not always visible in his statistical output in phase play.
For Munster, Kleyn specifically focuses on tackle volume, ruck volume and ruck efficiency, with the rest of his value being heavily tilted towards the set piece.
Attack
| Player | Carr/80 | Into/80 | Dom% | GL% | 2+% | Evade% | Rucks/80 (Eff%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Kleyn | 7.0 | 7.0 | 18.0 | 29.5 | 57.4 | 0.0 | 17.8 (84.5) |
| Eben Etzebeth | 7.5 | 6.9 | 50.0 | 48.8 | 68.3 | 8.3 | 11.3 (90.3) |
| Romain Taofifénua | 11.3 | 11.0 | 42.6 | 56.8 | 63.6 | 11.5 | 11.8 (87.1) |
| Patrick Tuipulotu | 8.8 | 8.8 | 30.4 | 55.2 | 73.6 | 4.4 | 18.3 (81.9) |
| Ruan Nortje | 6.8 | 6.4 | 20.0 | 61.9 | 46.0 | 0.0 | 16.0 (84.6) |
| Adam Coleman | 4.8 | 4.8 | 38.5 | 61.5 | 53.8 | 11.1 | 14.7 (84.8) |
Defence
| Player | Tack Att/80 | Succ% | Dom% | TO-Tack/80 | Steals/80 | Def Rucks/80 (Eff%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Kleyn | 14.0 | 88.5 | 6.6 | 0.00 | 0.11 | 3.0 (7.7) |
| Eben Etzebeth | 10.5 | 96.6 | 19.0 | 0.18 | 0.00 | 1.1 (0.0) |
| Romain Taofifénua | 11.7 | 92.7 | 13.8 | 0.19 | 0.48 | 4.0 (28.6) |
| Patrick Tuipulotu | 14.3 | 86.6 | 5.9 | 0.07 | 0.21 | 5.5 (11.5) |
| Ruan Nortje | 13.1 | 86.1 | 5.7 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.0 (2.7) |
| Adam Coleman | 13.5 | 94.5 | 13.7 | 0.19 | 0.00 | 2.6 (21.4) |
He’s got the ruck volume of Ruan Nortje, the defensive volume of Adam Coleman/Patrick Tuipulotu, all while having the worst ball carrying outcomes of the players (tighthead locks, or close to that roleset) that I profiled him against.
Kleyn isn’t a regular lineout option either, or at least he wasn’t last season — so what does he do?
Jean Kleyn’s biggest strength — and most of the reason why Rassie Erasmus used him as an Etzebeth clone, despite the phase play effectiveness being radically different — is his power at the set-piece on both sides of the shove, be it at the scrum or maul, with some excellent lineout lifting as a bonus.
He is the physical rock that Munster’s pack is built around. He doesn’t have to jump all that often in the lineout, because guys like Beirne, O’Mahony or Ahern can do it in their stead, while Kleyn trucks the ball off #9 into contact to widen the position, before anchoring the scrum and maul in a way that neiher Beirne, Ahern or any of the locks we had fit for last season can really do.
That is his value. It’s why, even if you exclude the practical reasons, Kleyn was fundamentally more valuable to Munster tactically than RG Snyman, who, in many ways, is the tight five equivalent of peppercorn sauce. All the best dinners have peppercorn sauce as an option at the very least, but if you haven’t got a good steak and chips, it’s a waste of time.
Jean Kleyn is our steak and chips
This is important because the contract that Jean Kleyn signed in November 2023 expires next July, alongside Edwin Edogbo and Conor Ryan. I’ll get back to Kleyn in a minute.
***
Just to save you time, I think that Edwin Edogbo will sign a two or three-year deal this season, and Conor Ryan will probably sign a new one-year (maybe a two-year) deal, depending on his usage this season.
Edogbo, in particular, has the potential to be an incredibly special player, once he scales back up after the Achilles injury/back sprain that limited him to one A-game appearance last season.
There really is no decision to be made here. Get this guy on a two-year, ideally a three-year deal, as soon as feasibly possible.
Look at Edogbo’s per/80s before his injury in late 2023. For clarity, these are the same people I used to compare Kleyn, although Edogbo has a slightly different role.
Attack
| Player | Carr/80 | Into/80 | Dom% | GL% | 2+% | Evade% | Rucks/80 (Eff%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Kleyn | 7.0 | 7.0 | 18.0 | 29.5 | 57.4 | 0.0 | 17.8 (84.5) |
| Eben Etzebeth | 7.5 | 6.9 | 50.0 | 48.8 | 68.3 | 8.3 | 11.3 (90.3) |
| Romain Taofifénua | 11.3 | 11.0 | 42.6 | 56.8 | 63.6 | 11.5 | 11.8 (87.1) |
| Patrick Tuipulotu | 8.8 | 8.8 | 30.4 | 55.2 | 73.6 | 4.4 | 18.3 (81.9) |
| Ruan Nortje | 6.8 | 6.4 | 20.0 | 61.9 | 46.0 | 0.0 | 16.0 (84.6) |
| Adam Coleman | 4.8 | 4.8 | 38.5 | 61.5 | 53.8 | 11.1 | 14.7 (84.8) |
| Edwin Edogbo (23/24) | 9.5 | 8.9 | 51.4 | 58.3 | 66.7 | 22.9 | 19.2 (82.5) |
Defence
| Player | Tack Att/80 | Succ% | Dom% | TO-Tack/80 | Steals/80 | Def Rucks/80 (Eff%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Kleyn | 14.0 | 88.5 | 6.6 | 0.00 | 0.11 | 3.0 (7.7) |
| Eben Etzebeth | 10.5 | 96.6 | 19.0 | 0.18 | 0.00 | 1.1 (0.0) |
| Romain Taofifénua | 11.7 | 92.7 | 13.8 | 0.19 | 0.48 | 4.0 (28.6) |
| Patrick Tuipulotu | 14.3 | 86.6 | 5.9 | 0.07 | 0.21 | 5.5 (11.5) |
| Ruan Nortje | 13.1 | 86.1 | 5.7 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.0 (2.7) |
| Adam Coleman | 13.5 | 94.5 | 13.7 | 0.19 | 0.00 | 2.6 (21.4) |
| Edwin Edogbo (23/24) | 8.3 | 92.9 | 9.5 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 5.5 (21.4) |
Where Edwin stacks up
- Carrying: 9.5 carries/80 — 2nd only to Taofifénua; best Dom Carry% (51.4%); #1 Evade% (22.9%); top-3 Gainline%.
- Ruck work (attack): #1 volume at 19.2 rucks/80 (ahead of Tuipulotu 18.3, Kleyn 17.8).
- Defence: Lower tackle volume (8.3/80) but high success (92.9%); Dominant% mid-pack (9.5%).
Turnovers: top TO-tackles/80 (0.20) and #2 steals/80 (0.40) behind Taofifénua (0.48).
Defensive rucks: joint-highest (5.5/80) with Tuipulotu.
Edogbo profiles as a tighthead lock power forward — elite ball dominance and evasion with top-end ruck volume, with efficient defensive turnover output despite lower tackle counts. Edwin Edogbo projects as a Will Skelton-type player.
Attack (per-80; % unchanged)
| Player | Carr/80 | Into/80 | Dom% | GL% | 2+% | Evade% | Att Rucks/80 (Eff%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edwin Edogbo (23/24) | 9.5 | 8.9 | 51.4 | 58.3 | 66.7 | 22.9 | 19.2 (82.5) |
| Will Skelton | 9.4 | 9.2 | 44.7 | 55.9 | 80.4 | 19.1 | 15.4 (75.7) |
Defence (per-80; % unchanged)
| Player | Tack/80 | Succ% | Dom% | TO-Tack/80 | Steals/80 | Def Rucks/80 (Eff%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edwin Edogbo (23/24) | 8.3 | 92.9 | 9.5 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 5.5 (21.4) |
| Will Skelton | 8.4 | 90.6 | 10.9 | 0.13 | 0.26 | 8.2 (12.8) |
Read on Roleset
On ball: near-identical carry volume; Edogbo shows more dominance + evasion, Skelton shows greater tackler commitment (80% vs 67%) — that’s the signature Skelton “gravity”.
Ruck split: Edogbo does more attacking clean (19.2 vs 15.4/80); Skelton does far more defensive rucks (8.2 vs 5.5/80).
Defence/turnovers: similar tackle volume; Edogbo slightly higher success and more turnovers/80.
Edogbo projects towards a Skelton-type tighthead lock on-ball, but his current per-80 mix is more hybrid (impact + engine). He trades some of Skelton’s defensive-ruck load and extreme 2+-tackler gravity for extra attacking ruck work and evasion.
And that includes the kind of horsepower at the maul and scrum that you just don’t see all that often.
Conor Ryan isn’t the same kind of player as Edogbo — he’s a workhorse swing lock who will give you a lot of pretty much everything — and the one-year development deal he’s on reflects that it’s something of a “try-out” year for him after an excellent 2024/25 in the wider squad for A-games and with UCC in the AIL.
In the academy, Conor Kennelly will spend most of this year getting AIL and A-games while he scales up physically, and Michael Foy, although nominally a second-row, is broadly expected to be a possible breakout talent in the back row this coming season. Don’t be surprised to see him get a 1+2 deal during the year.
***
That brings us back to Kleyn. Physically, we don’t have any player who does what he does for us in the set piece to the level that he currently does.
Kleyn is a World Cup-winning Springbok international, who just turned 32 a week or so ago, and would turn 33 ahead of the first season of any new contract he’d sign here. From an age perspective, he’s getting to the stage where wear and tear start to play a role, something that might already be the case if we look at the last two years when factoring in his international obligations, which don’t seem to be drying up as I expected, given injury, consistency and quality issues among the younger cohort of Springbok lock options.
Immediately, Jean Kleyn’s expiring contract asks three linked questions:
- Will Munster get dispensation to re-sign him from David Humphreys, as he is an active NIQ player with no chance of re-declaring?
- If so, should Munster re-invest in Kleyn, given his undoubted quality, ties with the club, and unique role set, although his previous durability is now in question, and he’s heading to the tail end of his career as an elite option?
- If not, does Munster look to re-invest his contract into another NIQ in a different area of the pack, dispensation allowing?
These are all pertinent questions, and I think they add to this; I don’t think that it’s a formality that Munster offer Kleyn a new deal. Firstly, it’s likely that a player with his credentials will have plenty of offers in the first half of the year, which affects his contract value, and Kleyn would already be one of Munster’s better-paid senior players.
Secondly, Munster have a lot of players in the pack, in particular, who are ruck first, set piece work horses and need to find a point of difference from somewhere.
Essentially, if we get a good season out of Jean Kleyn this season, which we will, injury allowing, is it logical to try to use what we would have paid to retain him — given it’s a relatively down year for high-value retentions elsewhere — to make a play for either a more dominant ball-carrying lock, or a tighthead prop, or a power hooker? I think it is, just about, especially if Evan O’Connell, Edwin Edogbo and even Tom Ahern push on this year as second row regulars.
There’s no doubting Kleyn’s status as a Munster legend. What he’s achieved at this club — becoming an Irish international after three years of hard graft, dropping out of favour, refocusing on his game in one of the lightest front fives in Europe, becoming one of the best tighthead locks in the game and winning a URC title with Munster before redeclaring for South Africa and playing in a World Cup final — is genuinely iconic.
Time will tell if Munster come to the same conclusion on his deal, but whatever happens, his legacy is secured.
