If you were strolling around near the Irish dressing room at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, you couldn’t have missed this…
CJ Stander doesn’t miss a bloody beat.
Ireland went to Rome with a point to prove. They snarled and snapped at anyone that was not in their inner circle and could not wait to get out on the pitch to right the wrongs of Edinburgh last weekend.
From the first whistle, they tore into Italy. They were coming here to win and win big. There were no celebrations when Keith Earls went over for their first try and very few when Craig Gilroy danced clear for the last.
Stander epitomised Ireland’s determination. For the first 20 minutes, he was like a bullet-train:
CJ Stander after 20 minutes
10 carries
1 clean break
1 defender beaten
1 tackle
1 TRY!!! pic.twitter.com/FCwUxk10Bc— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 11, 2017
There was simply no let-up from him. Post-match, we celebrated his remarkable stats but they have been updated overnight and look even better – 73 metres gained off 22 carries with two line breaks and 11 defenders beaten. He also became only the third forward to score a hat-trick in a Six [or Five] Nations championship.
There was another updated statistic that sums up the type of fierce competitor you get when CJ Stander pulls on a jersey – 11 successful tackles.
Along with Jamie Heaslip and Niall Scannell, Stander the hat-trick hero and try-creator was Ireland’s top tackler. No-one laid out more Italians and stopped them dead in their tracks than Stander.
Whether it was Carlo Canna or 103-kilo hooker Ornel Gega, Stander made his hits stick. He did not just halt runs, he rag-dolled some big, big units.
This is the man that is punching holes in attack, drivng through mud with men hanging off him, scoring tries and supporting teammates.
And this is the man that is roaring for more. Standing guard at rucks, then shield. Shovelling men from the breakdown. Getting up, getting back in the line. Talking all the while; encouraging.
It will have galled him to lose last week and to be part of a team that leaked far too many tries to a decent, not otherwordly Scottish side. He was a 7/10 last weekend and that would have gnawed at him. He was damn close to a 10 in Rome and it wasn’t just down to his hat-trick.
It was down to that and it was down to everything else from a man that spared nothing and was everywhere.
So sad seeing CJ Stander play for Ireland, should have been Springbok captain
— Ross Peacock (@rosssteven10) February 11, 2017
Born in George on South Africa’s Western Cape but every sinew of him striving to make things right for an Irish nation that is delighted to have him.
France are next and Stander will be there, in the frontline.
