Wise words from the Irish and Leinster rugby player.
There are not many players in recent history who have endeared themselves to the Irish rugby public than Munster and Ireland’s CJ Stander.
Munster were lucky in the sense that they got three years of Stander all to themselves before he inevitably got called up to the Ireland squad.
It’s not just the way Stander plays the game which gains the respect and admiration of rugby fans, but people often cite his friendly nature and down to earth mentality as other reasons for why he is held in such high esteem.
From a media point of view, he is very easy to deal with and he will always make an effort to personally greet journalists or answer as many questions as he can.
In addition to this and to what is perhaps one of the most important qualities which Stander possesses, is that he knows what it means to represent Munster and Ireland.
Stander gets it.
Stander has been playing international Test rugby for Ireland for 12 months now and you can’t help but be impressed with how easy the transition was from European club level.
Jamie Heaslip, speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s Six Nations opener against Scotland, stated that Stander has really immersed himself into both the culture of Munster and Ireland.
“CJ has really bought into it, he’s really enveloped himself in both (Ireland and Munster), from talking to the lads in Munster and talking to CJ, he likes it down there, he likes the people, he loves Limerick, and he loves this international stage and being up here with Ireland, you can see he’s buzzing off it.”
You could forgive many players for perhaps being quiet or reserved when they first enter Irish camp but Heaslip makes the point that this wasn’t the case for the 26-year-old.
“This time last year – it’s been a whole year with CJ now, hasn’t it – he’s really…you know, I think a lot of players can be quite tentative to the international scene but CJ has just grasped it with both hands and he’s going hard.”
With three uncapped players, all from Munster, in the Ireland squad for the opening rounds of the Six Nations, they won’t have to look too far for the perfect example on how to make an impression with Joe Schmidt’s men.
