Leadership not a problem as actions do talking for CJ Stander
Former Ireland and Munster legend Alan Quinlan bemoaned the absence of leadership following Ireland’s defeat to England in Twickenham two weeks ago, highlighting the retirement of players like Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, and Paul O’Connell as well as injuries to Tommy Bowe, Peter O’Mahony, and Sean O’Brien.
That gaggle of players have almost 500 caps between them, and Quinlan believed, if they were all available, Ireland would have left Twickenham with points rather than pressure.
Josh Van der Flier, Stuart McCloskey and Ultan Dillane were three debutants on the day, backing up Quinlan’s statistical argument, but Munster flanker Stander doesn’t agree there’s a paucity of leaders in the current team.
“I think the leadership quality is brilliant,” he said, “You’ve got [Rory] Besty, Johnny [Sexton] and Jamie [Heaslip], Seánie [O’Brien] while he was here, and [Conor] Murray.
“They can lead.”
Stander will make just his fourth international appearance in tomorrow’s must-win clash with Italy, but already appears to have become one of the go-to players in Joe Schmidt’s squad. The South African born back row has been outstanding in Munster’s disappointing season, both as a player and stand-in captain.
He’s feeling more at home in the green shirt by now, but he insists he doesn’t feel the need to become a dominant voice in the dressing room just yet.
“I don’t think me coming in trying to lead is going to change stuff,” he said.
“Being captain you always have something to say but when I walked in here I wanted to just bring energy to the team. There are enough leaders here.
“I just try to bring a different energy, my type of energy and the last few weeks I’ve started talking up here and there but not too much because everything is said and done.
“You just have to go about your own game. It’s international rugby, so everyone is international quality and if you look after your job, you don’t have to worry about anyone else.
“The leadership thing, I’ll always be a leader but I’ll help the leaders by pushing them. Just do more on the pitch because they say the right stuff. It’s not politics where you need to out-talk the guy next to you. If they say the right stuff, you just do your stuff on the pitch.”
Stander will join Van der Flier and Heaslip tomorrow in the same back row that started in Twickenham, and he knows the pressure is now on to get a result – with his honeymoon period well and truly over.
“I got a bit of a break coming up here where I was just the new guy getting my first or second cap, then, after that, if we didn’t get the results we wanted to, there is another bit of pressure on you,” he said.
“Because maybe [Joe] wants to change the team or something else so that pressure is always going to be on you. If you want to win everything, there’s always going to be pressure.”
Playing alongside the same players, Stander says, will improve the quality of Ireland’s breakdown, and he’s been impressed by the challenge set by Van der Flier alongside him.
“It would be great if you could get a set pair and play them the whole competition,” he says, “I, myself, looked forward to playing with Seánie because he’s an unbelievable player. But then you get a guy like Josh van der Flier who just steps up and bring his energy to the team and he wants to outwork everyone and I want to outwork him. If you had the chance to play all three all the games, great, but the boys stepped up and knew what was going on and all brought different qualities to the team so it’s exciting.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
