It’s remarkable that some people consider it wrong for Cj Stander to represent Ireland.
The South African-born forward is not the first player to fulfil World Rugby’s three-year residency rule and line out for Ireland. However, he is undoubtedly the best.
Despite consistently proving his worth in the green jersey time and time again, his name still gets brought up when rugby’s current residency laws are debated.
There’s no denying his commitment to the Irish team, and what he adds to the team cannot be ignored. His teammates, the coaches and the fans are all behind them, but there have been a few high profile instances of Stander’s inclusion in the squad being criticised.
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Of course, the man himself is aware of the debate. It would be impossible for him not to know about it, especially when impassioned supporters in the rugby capital of Munster let him know all about it, as he told Independent.ie.
“I get a lot of people in Limerick especially telling me about this, almost angry about it. They think people are attacking me. I just always tell them ‘what can you do?’ I don’t mind it, so you don’t have to mind it.”
“They look after me, I want to give something back to them and I want to give something back to Munster, the coaches, the people who put down the money for me.”
The best way to answer the critics, in his mind, is with performances. God knows he’s been blessing both his province and country with some fine ones.
“The only way for me to do that is to play as hard as I can in the Munster and Irish jersey.”
