Munster star CJ Stander hoping for green day with Ireland

Christiaan Johan Stander, better known as CJ, is counting down the days until he becomes eligible to play rugby for Ireland.

Three years have elapsed since the former South African U20 captain arrived as a project player to join Munster, and at the end of this month, he will have completed the required terms and conditions to make him available for the national side.

Given his performances for Munster, particularly last season, Stander could be considered in the same category as Ulster’s Jared Payne, who had become one of Joe Schmidt’s go-to men before injury ruled him out of the World Cup. However, he has no idea whether Schmidt is interested in his talents, his contact with the national boss confined to a few chats about rugby in general.

“It’s 10 days now till I qualify,” he said on Monday. “I am counting it down and it’s something to look forward to. As far as Joe Schmidt is concerned, I’ve met him a few times but I haven’t spoken to anyone really about it (my situation), we talked about rugby generally, but I hope he knows I’m there (laugh), I hope so.”

Stander is focused on the here and now, helping Munster continue their unbeaten Guinness Pro12 run.

In looking forward to Friday’s clash with Scarlets in Parc Y Scarlets, he reflected on the improvements needed following a bonus point win over Cardiff Blues last weekend.

“We wanted to start the game with an intensity and physicality but we didn’t do that, we were 10 to zero down in the first 10 minutes and it was hard to get back from that, but we played good rugby in between the 20th minute and the 35th, started the second half slowly, but came out again. One of our biggest problems, though, has been turning off and turning on again.

“That’s frustrating because we know what we want to do, know how we want to play; sometimes we don’t know what the problem is, we have to go into the changing rooms and listen to the coaches, get the feedback and it switches on again. However, with the World cup, a week on and week off is difficult for teams, everyone wants game on game.”

Munster will get that run of matches in the coming weeks as they enter a 16-week unbroken spell over the Pro12 and Champions Cup. First up are Scarlets, and Stander is well aware of how good the Welsh club has become.

“Yeah, it’s a tough place to play and it’s a top-of-the-table clash,” says Stander. “I think last year they might have lost just one game there, they drew with us. This year they have started very well, they have (made) good signings and have been playing very good rugby so far.

“We need to take it from the start, we can’t switch on and off, we have to play a physical game and and stick to what we’re good at. At times against Cardiff we showed that we can link between backs and forwards and play a good (tidy) game. I know it is a cliche but we do need to play for 80 minutes.”

Meanwhile, Scarlets tighthead prop Peter Edwards has echoed the sentiments of head coach Wayne Pivac saying the region has to make improvements ahead of the Munster game.

Edwards believes the Scarlets must cut down on the errors committed despite beating Leinster last weekend. “We had a lot of errors when we were down in their 22, we’ve got to get that right,” he said.

“We’ve got Munster this week. They have a good set piece; a similar team to Leinster and it’s a top of the league clash. We’re quite proud of our record at home, we want people to fear coming here. We do have a few things to work on in the week.”