CJ Stander: I’ll play harder and make Anthony Foley proud

As has been evident in the outpouring of sorrow since his death, Anthony Foley made a big impact on people’s lives within and beyond Munster and Saturday’s tribute to him at Thomond Park had a similar impact for CJ Stander and Glasgow coach Gregor Townsend.

Stander, whose career in red took off under head coach Foley following a difficult move from his native South Africa, and Townsend, the Scottish playmaker who faced the Munster Ireland No.8 at every level since his schooldays. Both attended the funeral in Killaloe last Friday and the following day’s Champions Cup pool game pitted them on opposite sides of a contest that did their friend proud.

“It was a big week, an emotional week,” Stander said after playing in the number 24 jersey, the “8” having been stood down on Saturday as a mark of respect.

“I felt that he brought a lot to that jersey, he gave everything in that jersey, I think giving that jersey off for the day was a great touch.

“You can’t do him justice in that jersey so playing at 24 was still a massive honour. You only get it for a game, you’re just borrowing it from the next guy.

“For me, it’s going to be a massive honour to play in that 8 jersey again. It means I’m going to have to play harder, make him proud.”

Stander had been incredibly moved by the community-wide support offered to Foley’s family and Munster Rugby in the wake of the Heineken Cup-winning captain’s death.

“They look after their own, and I think they lost a son, someone that brought the jersey and the crest at his best capabilities and it was amazing to see the support, the people coming out to support the family and players, it meant a lot. I’ve always loved that, and it’s a thing I’ll cherish for life.”

Inside Thomond Park, too, that support carried Munster along when the going got tough after Keith Earl’s sending off, Stander said. “We were down to 14 men for 60 minutes and there was a stage, about 53 minutes in, we were tired. It was an emotional week and everything just came on top of each other. I looked up, everyone looked up and we just got this massive roar... it really lifted you.

“That’s one of the best days I’ve ever had, in this stadium, and I don’t think I’ll ever have a bigger day than that, just to see the support out there, the lift we got from the warm-up, from the run we did back to the changing room.

“Normally with a game like this, I’m bigged up and ready to go, but I was calm today, I don’t know why. I think with the support we got, and with all we went through during the week.”

For the Glasgow head coach, the disappointment of his side’s failure to turn up in a 38-17 defeat was tempered by the spirit of the afternoon in Limerick.

“I thought this was a tremendous, inspiring occasion,” Townsend said. “The last few days have been really inspiring for terrible reasons.

“It is just a pity we didn’t really get involved in the game. I’m inspired by what our community has done to come together in such a respectful way. I’m inspired by Anthony’s family and by rugby. The number of rugby teams, from juniors to international players who were at that funeral, and then the reaction today.

“When we got off the bus today the Munster supporters were applauding us. That was great to see.

“The whole atmosphere of the game, even with the red card, is what you want to see - a home crowd backing their team.

“It can affect you both ways. If you’re a supporter you would think that was a special occasion, but obviously our players missed out today.

“In hindsight, maybe the build-up was tough for them.” As far as Stander is concerned, the onus is now on Munster to build on their great performance.

“We’re our own team now, if we drop the standards from what we did today, it’d be a shame. We know what we can do now, this is the way we want to play, the way Axel wanted us to play.

“This is a great benchmark to say ‘look boys, this is it, this is where we need to go bigger and better than this’. I’m looking forward to the next match.”