Keynan Knox
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Keynan Knox (born 6 April 1999) is a South African
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player who plays as a
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for
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club
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
.


Early life

Born in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, Knox attended
Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal, Balgowan valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Spear’s Schools Index 2025 reco ...
, a boarding school where
Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...
such as
Ruan Combrinck Ruan Jacobus Combrinck (born 10 May 1990) is a South African rugby union player. He plays mostly as a wing. He plays for in the Top14 in France. He previously played for the in Super Rugby, the and domestically and Kintetsu Liners in the Ja ...
,
Ross Cronjé Ross Cronjé (born 26 July 1989) is a South African Rugby player. He played at scrum-half for the in Super Rugby, the in the Currie Cup and the in the Rugby Challenge. He previously played for the .Greenaway, Mike (January 13, 2022)Lions v ...
,
Patrick Lambie Patrick Jonathan Lambie (born 17 October 1990) is a retired South African professional rugby union player who last played for in the French Top 14. He announced his retirement in January 2019 due to multiple concussions. Early life Lambie at ...
and
Pat Cilliers Patric Michael Cilliers (born 3 March 1988) is a rugby union player who won 6 caps for in 2012. He has previously played for the , and in Super Rugby and has played Currie Cup rugby for the , and , in Europe he has played for Premiership Ru ...
, and South African-born
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
international Robbie Diack and former Munster player
Pat Howard Patrick William Howard (born 14 November 1973) is an ex-head coach at Leicester Tigers and a former Australian rugby union international who played centre or fly-half. He was the General Manager, Team Performance – for the Australia nationa ...
also attended.


Youth rugby

Knox captained Michaelhouse's first XV rugby team during 2017, and featured for the
Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
provincial side during the under-18
Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The ...
(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 Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
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 The 2018 Celtic Cup is the inaugural edition of the Celtic Cup (2018 rugby union tournament), Celtic Cup rugby union competition, which features development regional and provincial teams from Ireland and Wales. It ran for six weeks from September ...
, and signed a three-year contract with the province in February 2019, which saw Knox complete year three of the academy before progressing to the senior squad. Because Knox joined Munster's academy before 31 December 2017, he qualified for Ireland based on residency in 2020, as this was before
World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...
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 The 2019–20 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the third season to be referred to as the ''PR ...
39–9 win against Welsh side
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in
Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Munster Rugby and has Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park from 2013 to 2015 in the Le ...
, and he made his first start for the province in their 33–23 win against
Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...
on 2 November 2019. Knox scored his first try for Munster in their 31–17 win against Italian side Benetton in round 16 of the
2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''P ...
on 19 March 2021, and made his Champions Cup debut for Munster in their 2021–22 pool B round 2 fixture at home to French club
Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (adminis ...
on 18 December 2021, coming on as a replacement for John Ryan in the province's 19–13 win. Knox signed a two-year contract extension in January 2022. He featured off the bench in Munster's historic 28–14 win against a South Africa XV in
Páirc Uí Chaoimh Páirc Uí Chaoimh ( ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Cork, Ireland. Often referred to simply as "The Park", it is the home of Cork GAA and is located in Ballintemple, near the site of the original Cork Athletic Grounds. In February 2024, follo ...
on 10 November 2022. On 14 February 2024, Munster Rugby announced that Knox had completed his contract and would be leaving with immediate effect.


Honours


Munster

*
United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...
**Winner (1):
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References


External links

*
Munster Senior ProfileMunster Academy ProfileURC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Keynan 1999 births Living people White South African people Alumni of Michaelhouse South African rugby union players Young Munster players Munster Rugby players Rugby union props 21st-century South African sportsmen Place of birth missing (living people)