Keith Earls on shock CJ Stander retirement: 'Maybe he'll get an itch for it again and come back to us'

'You could see his qualities there and you wondered could this fella go all the way. Now he has 50 caps for Ireland'

Ireland's CJ Stander and Keith Earls after the win over Scotland last weekend. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

CJ Stander was 18 months into his time with Munster before he truly arrived. An early replacement for Peter O’Mahony in a Champions Cup quarter-final defeat of Toulouse, his try and man of the match performance were cornerstones in another of those memorable away days in France.

Brought over as a project player who could star at Test level, he struggled to convince the Munster brains trust that he was good enough to even merit a start with the province in Europe. This was no sure thing although Keith Earls looks back now and remembers being convinced by the South African just weeks into his Irish venture.