CJ Stander’s eligibility might be under scrutiny in some dark corners for no good reason but there are some things that simply cannot be questioned.
Some people prefer ethics to legalities, you see. Some people just don’t really like rugby.
So, whilst all these people probably cheered on Ray Houghton or Jon Walters – and rightly so – when they represented Ireland with distinction, those same guys are willing to question Stander’s role in the Irish rugby setup.
The eligibility criteria might be looser, it might even be far too loose, but it doesn’t mean Stander can’t or shouldn’t play for Ireland. And it sure as hell doesn’t mean that he cares any less about it.
CJ Stander did learn Amhran na bhFiann. Good lad CJ #rugby #IREvWAL #RBS6Nations pic.twitter.com/olNpxIegtv
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 7, 2016
Ever since the South African was unleashed by Joe Schmidt, he instantly became one of the most popular players of the modern era to pull on a green jersey.
That’s because he plays with heart and he plays with balls. He ploughs through bodies with no regard for his own safety. He steals yards like his life depended on it and every passage of play the back row warrior channels into his game is brimming with sweat, blood and pure unrelenting muscle.
In the space of one year on the international scene, the Munster man has become a leader of the pack and now his effect is so that it’s difficult to see how the country can do without him.
In this season’s championship alone, Stander is averaging an incredible 23 carries a game.
2017 Six Nations carries (after 3 games):
- CJ Stander (Ireland) – 69 carries
- Jamie Heaslip (Ireland) – 54 carries
- Nathan Hughes (England) – 51 carries
- Sean O’Brien (Ireland) – 43 carries
- Louis Picamoles (France) – 40 carries
Stander hasn’t played one game in this Six Nations where he’s come out with less than 22 carries. He doesn’t stop, he doesn’t slow up, he doesn’t think for one split second about going anywhere other than forwards.
Of those 69 carries, he’s been turned over just four times – a success rate of 94 per cent.
He’s made 161 metres of ground in total.
In the bargain, he’s completed 35 tackles.
What’s more remarkable is that Stander is continuing to produce this under severe scrutiny. Everyone knows what he can do, everyone is out to stop him but, when all is said and done, no-one has managed to come close to stopping him.
“That Irish backrow has a bulls eye on it now,” Donncha O’Callaghan said on the latest episode of SportsJOE’s Hard Yards rugby podcast.
“They’ve been carving it up for the last few weeks in the Six Nations and even before that. They’re all quality players.
“They’re the scalp, they’re the guys you identify early in the week that you want to get in to.”
Listen to his full take below.
With all that, the same back row we’re talking about cannot be stopped – they can’t even be curbed. Imagine trying to stop CJ Stander in his tracks. Imagine even thinking about it.
Ireland carries in the 2017 Six Nations:
- CJ Stander – 69
- Jamie Heaslip – 54
- Sean O’Brien – 43
- Robbie Henshaw – 38
- Rob Kearney – 38
- Garry Ringrose – 33
