We had assumed CJ Stander would be given the weekend off.
With Stander, though, assumptions are never safe. The man even takes cake decorating competitions seriously…
The Munster flanker put himself through hell last week, playing on through the biting pain of an ankle injury, and it was all in vain.
Saracens swept Stander and his Munster teammates aside. He gave it 80+ minutes on an iffy ankle and was still banging away until the end.
There is still one more trophy to play for and that’s plenty of motivation.
This Saturday should see Munster secure a home semi-final in the Guinness PRO12. A try-scoring or losing bonus point should do it but Rassie Erasmus’ men will be gunning for all five against less than average Treviso side.
Erasmus has named a strong starting XV that includes Simon Zebo, Francis Saili and Jaco Taute. The South African is also bringing Stander to carry out a role that has been extremely rare for him in recent years. The 27-year-old has been named on the Munster bench alongside fellow Ireland internationals Donnacha Ryan and Ian Keatley.
Stander has been named as a substitute once in the past 13 months [against Cardiff last September]. He has started 62 of his last 66 Munster games, dating back to April 2014. Stander has played all 80 minutes in 52 of those appearances.
Munster should be able to get the job done without their latest British & Irish Lion but he’s certainly a handy option off the bench.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Darren Sweetnam, Francis Saili, Jaco Taute, Ronan O’Mahony; Tyler Bleyendaal, Duncan Williams; James Cronin, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer; Darren O’Shea, Billy Holland (captain); Dave O’Callaghan, Conor Oliver, Jack O’Donoghue.
Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Brian Scott, Rory Burke, Donnacha Ryan, CJ Stander, Angus Lloyd, Ian Keatley, Alex Wootton.
Connacht, meanwhile, have named Marnitz Boshoff, Cian Kelleher and Darragh Leader to their team for this season’s PRO12 finalé at The Sportsground. Andrew Browne captains the outgoing champions with regular captain John Muldoon on the bench.
The Connacht team to face @scarlets_rugby in the final @PRO12rugby home game sees @DarraghLeader, @ciankelleher94 & @marnitzbos all return! pic.twitter.com/LezP9SQ2K9
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) April 28, 2017
