CJ Stander out to impress for Munster against Leinster as Ireland’s call beckons
The Ireland head coach will be keeping a watchful eye over the form of many players but the most intriguing match-up he’ll watch from the stands will be between Leinster’s Jamie Heaslip and Munster’s CJ Stander, the latter an IRFU “Project Player” but now fully qualified to line out for his adopted country having fulfilled the three-year residency requirement. As things stand, Stander must be favourite to wear the Ireland No 8 shirt in next year’s Six Nations.
In an interview in November 2014, Stander made it very clear that playing for Ireland is something he wants, but not something he wished to broadcast too loudly. “I have a passion for the Irish team,” he said, “and playing for Ireland is something I want and am going for.”
Having been installed as Munster’s European captain in the absence of the injured Peter O’Mahony, Stander (25) has become a conscientious and inspirational leader, and his commitment to the red jersey has been obvious. In three years he has collected multiple man-of-the-match awards, performances that in part made him No. 1 choice as skipper amongst his peers.
MunXV: Conway; Earls,Saili,Hurley,Zebo; Bleyendaal,Murray;Cronin, Sherry,Botha;Foley,D Ryan; Copeland,O’Donoghue,Stander Capt. #MunVLei
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) December 24, 2015
Perhaps on the international front he has something to prove. Before arriving in Limerick three years ago he was in the Springbok training group. A coach approached him one day and told him he wasn’t big enough. He remembers saying at the time that it was tough when one guy had that decision about your career.
In fairness to the South African-born back rower, he has never shouted from the roof-tops about his Ireland ambitions, instead keeping his intentions quiet. However, he is, arguably, the best No. 8 plying his trade in this country presently as Heaslip continues to work his way back to some post-World Cup form.
As regards tomorrow’s “Ireland trial” at Thomond Park, Stander’s sole focus is on leading Munster to a win. “Yeah, I think it (Ireland) is in the back of a few boys’ heads about selection. But the boys know we need a performance this week and they need to pitch up. We need a win. We know that Leinster have been disappointed in the last few weeks. They’re going to come firing.”
He’s aware that there will be extra focus on the two number eights.
“Yeah, personally it’s a big match. You want to play against the best guy in the position in the country. You want to play your best. I’m just going to concentrate on the team and on myself this week. Last week, we didn’t perform as a team and individually we also need to perform. I also need to pick up my game a bit. It’s going to be a good match-up in all positions.”
As Munster captain he must have found the last month quite trying for someone who takes a loss very personally, but leading a team through tough times will, he hopes, make him a better captain.
“It does change your mindset, for me especially. When you’re an individual player, you just go ‘oh, we lost the match’ and you think about yourself and what you did wrong but now I’m thinking about what we did wrong in the whole week; what he said or what I said or how I’ve influenced someone during the week.
“It gives me a bit of pressure but on the other side, I like those pressure situations because it moulds me into what I want to be one day when I leave rugby.”
Munster occupy strange territory as they seek to end an unprecedented run of four successive losses, but Stander — aware of the unique link between the team and its supporters — wants to make everyone proud.
“You want to win. You want to make the supporters and the team proud. We lost a few matches well and a few just at the end with poor mistakes.
“It’s disappointing. I want to keep everyone proud but the group always step up and always support me. It’s good to get some support from the other leaders in the group but for this week, we’re just concentrating on the Leinster match.”
Here is your #LeinsterRugby starting XV to face Munster in #GuinnessPRO12. #MUNvLEINhttps://t.co/yiOH59dYAl
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) December 24, 2015
Having been on the winning side of three of the last four Munster-Leinster derbies, Stander is aware of the size of the task tomorrow. “It’s something I remember when I arrived. ROG, Paul (O’Connell), and Donncha (O’Callaghan) talked about the game, they’re the ones you want to play in. These are the big matches.
“Especially playing this weekend; it’s two big teams going against each other in Ireland. It gives you goosebumps going into the week. Everybody is ready. It feels like a European week with the excitement in the camp.
“When I played for Bulls, they played Western Province. That’s quite a big match. It’s a physical match but this one, I reckon, Munster versus Leinster, the supporters, the stadiums are full. It’s a very physical match. There’s a lot of boys playing for certain positions in certain teams.
“It’s going to be physical up front and you need to know your game.”
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