With Damian de Allende set to return to Japan, Munster have been linked with a move for former All Blacks centre Malakai Fekitoa.
De Allende is coming to the end of a two-year deal with the Irish province and is reportedly packing his bags to return to the Wild Knights in Ota.
De Allende set for Munster exit
“Players move around all the time,” said Munster assistant coach Stephen Larkham when asked about the Springbok centre’s pending departure.
“Yeah, it’ll disappointing. He’s been great for us. I’m not sure what your opinion of him is but he’s been great within the squad, within the organisation and then obviously his performances on the field have been tremendous as well. So yeah, he would be a loss, no doubt.
“We certainly haven’t secured our full roster for next year and that process is always going throughout the 12 months of the year.
“There’s always contract negotiations and top-ups and those discussions happening. So it’s no different at the moment. We’re kind of in the heat of it at the moment, just trying to get a number of guys signed.”
Fekitoa appears to be one of those guys. According to Rugby Pass, Fekitoa will join the exodus from English Premiership club Wasps. While Fekitoa will add strike power to the Munster backline, he is an outside centre and it remains to be seen who will step into the power-running vacancy created by De Allende’s expected exit.
Larkham is also on his way out (returning to Australia), along with defence coach JP Ferreira and head coach Johann van Graan who will take over at Bath at the end of the season. But Musnter last week announced that second row RG Snyman, who has twice ruptured his ACL, signed a two-year deal.
“I’m certainly excited by that prospect,” Larkham said. “We’ve seen glimpses of RG on the field and we’ve seen a lot more of him at training and around the place, and he adds a lot to this organisation. So it’s exciting.
“There’s always a concern with players and signing big contracts. Look at some of the big players around the world who sign big contracts and then get injured, it’s part and parcel of the game.
“In terms of where RG is at, it’s expected that he will make a full recovery.
“There’s a tremendous team around him at the moment, building him back up, so we’ve got full confidence in that process.”
