Jacques van der Westhuyzen

By Jacques van der Westhuyzen

Head of Sport


Springboks burnt in fire pit incident in Ireland

Both men were included in the squad for the series of Tests against Georgia and the British and Irish Lions.


Two World Cup-winning Springboks have suffered burns following a fire pit incident in Ireland.

Munster Rugby players RG Snyman and Damian de Allende, who were both part of the Bok team that beat England in the World Cup final in Japan in 2019, have been treated for burns after the accident at the weekend.

Two other Munster players were involved in the incident, namely  CJ Stander and Mike Haley.

While Haley and Stander will return to training this week after sustaining burns to their hands, there is uncertainty around the severity of the burns suffered by the two Springboks.

Both men were included in the South Africa 46-man squad named at the weekend for the series of Tests against Georgia and the British and Irish Lions.

A statement by Munster Rugby said De Allende and Snyman had suffered more “substantial burns to legs, hands and face” and will not take part in training and rehabilitation work this week. Both would meet a specialist again later this week.

Commenting on the accident, Munster’s South African coach Johann van Graan said, “We are hugely relieved that the lads are all ok.

“The players have all been treated and are being well looked after with Damian and RG meeting the specialist again later this week to review next steps of their recovery.”

It is not known what actually happened to have caused the four men to get burned or how serious the burns are.

Both men are expected back in South Africa in the coming days to join the Springbok squad that is in camp in Bloemfontein.

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Damian de Allende Springboks (Bokke/Boks)

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