VIDEO: Munster lock dismiss Stormers' VideoGate as a 'load of puff'
REACTION: Munster stalwart and former Stormers lock Jean Kleyn dismissed the ongoing debate about the Stormers’ VideoGate saga as just a ‘load of puff’.
The Stormers, who edged Irish province Connacht 43-25 in their semifinal in Cape Town last weekend, then watched Munster’s surprise win over Leinster in Dublin in the other semifinal.
The Capetonians celebrated wildly as they earned the rights to host the Final after Munster slotted a late drop-goal to defeat their arch-rivals Leinster 16-15 in Dublin.
The video of the Stormers’ celebration (watch below) was widely circulated on social media and picked up by the Irish outlets, getting on their soapboxes and drumming up emotions over the event.
However, it appears the Munster players are not as excited about the video or its contents as the various platforms are.
Klein, 29, said he has not seen the video and is not familiar with its content, but ‘heard a lot’ about it.
(Article continues below the Jean Kleyn interview …)
“Any team that gets a home Final would be delighted,” the Munster lock told a media gathering ahead of Saturday’s big face-off in Cape Town.
“If the roles were reversed, we would be delighted as well.
“So, yeah, I’ve heard a lot of talk about the video,” he told the media gathering ahead of Saturday’s Cape Town Final, adding: “To be honest, it’s all a load of puff.
“Any team getting a home Final after thinking they’d be playing Leinster away – when that’s your other option – I think Munster at home seems pretty good.
“But I’d say we’ll see on Saturday what the result leads to.”
He also dismissed the reaction of Stormers assistant coach Rito Hlungwani, who backed hooker Joseph Dweba, despite the front row forward’s foul-mounted outburst in the louche.
“Joseph is a very bubbly player,” Hlungwani told a media briefing this week, adding: “He has got a bit of a mouth on him.
“He is one guy who usually backs up his words.”
Klein, a product of Hoërskool Linden in Johannesburg before moving to the University of Stellenbosch, said people are reading way too much into the incident.
“I think from the players’ standpoint, you can’t exactly have your coach go: ‘Oh, no, we’re definitely not going to do that…’
“We are trying to read way too much into it.
“I’d say they were obviously a few beers into it after the [Connacht] game, things were said, and you can’t back down after saying something like that.
“We know we are very much up for the battle.
“We are preparing ourselves to do our best and perform at our highest level.
“I don’t think there is anything else to be said about the video.”
Kleyn, born in Linden, Johannesburg, moved to Limerick in 2016, after playing 40-odd games for Western Province and the Stormers.
He has represented Ireland after qualifying through residency as a ‘project player’.
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