Keynan Knox

Keynan Knox (born 6 April 1999) is a South African rugby union player, who is currently a member of the Munster academy. He plays as a prop and represents Young Munster in the All-Ireland League.

Early life

Born in South Africa, Knox attended Michaelhouse, a boarding school where Springboks such as Ruan Combrinck, Ross Cronjé, Patrick Lambie and Pat Cilliers, and South African-born Ireland international Robbie Diack and former Munster player Pat Howard also attended.

Youth rugby

Knox captained Michaelhouse's first XV rugby team during 2017, and featured for the Sharks provincial side during the under-18 Craven Week (also in 2017), where his set-piece and general play impressed.

Munster

On the back of strong performances at school level, Knox caught the attention of then-Munster CEO Garrett Fitzgerald, and he moved to Ireland upon finishing school to join the provinces academy setup in December 2017. He featured in all five of Munster A's fixtures during the 2018–19 Celtic Cup, and signed a three-year contract with the province in February 2019, which will see Knox complete year three of the academy before progressing to the senior squad.

Because Knox joined Munster's academy before 31 December 2017, he will qualify for Ireland based on residency in 2020, as this was before World Rugby changed the residency period a player must serve before qualifying for a country from three to five years. He made his senior competitive debut for Munster on 28 September 2019, featuring as a replacement in the provinces opening 2019–20 Pro14 39–9 win against Welsh side Dragons in Thomond Park, and he made his first start for the province in their 33–23 win against Cardiff Blues on 2 November 2019.