Ireland and Munster lock Jean Kleyn drafted into South Africa training squad

Jean Kleyn has been drafted into South Africa's training squad for next month's Rugby Championship.

The Munster lock was seen as unlucky to miss out on Andy Farrell’s recently named Ireland training squad.

But the 29-year-old has gained compensation by receiving a first-ever call-up to his native country.

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Kleyn has been capped five times for Ireland, with his last appearance coming at the 2019 World Cup.

But given that it is over three years since Ireland last capped him, he is now free to represent the country of his birth.

Kleyn will have to wait until World Rugby’s regulations committee sign off on his transfer but it should be a formality that the second-row forward will have a chance to represent two different countries at two different World Cups.

Kleyn said: “When approached I was blown away with this opportunity to be a part of the Springbok squad. I could not pass up on it when it was offered.

“Munster has shaped me as a person and player. It’s where I have built a life with my young family but to be offered this opportunity by my home country is an honour I never thought I would receive.

“The last three weeks have been the dream here at Munster. To fight through a brutal season and play week in week out, has been a high point of my career. As a team we continued to believe alongside our coaches, and against the odds succeeded.”

Kleyn was a key player in Munster's sensational victory in this year's United Rugby Championship.

But he missed out on Andy Farrell's Ireland training squad, with James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Joe McCarthy and Kieran Treadwell filling the lock positions.

Now he will join his Munster teammate RG Snyman among the second row options for the Springboks, with Ulster’s Duane Vermeulen also in the forwards for the training squad.

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