The pride CJ Stander felt receiving his Lions gear is truly heart-warming

You may remember the absolute stash of the stuff the Lions received in their welcome pack.

In case you don’t, here’s a quick rundown.

• Training jersey
• Superlight poly t-shirt
• Training shorts
• Training socks
• Vest top
• First layer top
• Gym shorts
• Fleece shorts
• Polo t-shirts
• Full-zip hoody
• Training t-shirts
• Fleece bottoms
• Crew sweatshirt
• Slim-fit tracksuit bottoms
• Zip top
• Gilet
• Presentation jacket
• Presentation trousers
• Storm jacket
• Beanie
• Cap
• Contact top
• Rain jacket
• Contact pants [sounds interesting!]
• Large holdall
• Medium holdall
• Boot bag
• Gym bag
• Back-pack
• Wheelie bag
• Hoodie

https://twitter.com/lionsofficial/status/861647155915653121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsjoe.ie%2Frugby%2Fheres-every-lions-player-gets-kit-bag-122748 Who doesn’t love free stuff, right? But for the players, the gear can mean a lot more than a nice goody pack, it is proof that years of hard work finally paid off. CJ Stander only made his Ireland debut in 2016 and is now tipped to be a starter for the Lions and donning the Lions colours certainly means a lot to him, as he told reporters.

“All the bags, all your gear has your name on it on the side, so I have ‘CJS’ on the side. It is always going to be mine. “One day when hopefully I have a daughter or son they can wear it out somewhere or I can just keep it in my closet.”

Stander, clearly excited like a little kid, receiving his Lions gear and went as far as to say it was one of the best days of his life.

“It was one of the best days I’ve ever had collecting gear, fitting on everything . . . I tried on everything. You probably literally only need to take a pair of jeans. But we probably got a pair of jeans. I haven’t seen them.”

Stander grew up in South Africa and would have grown up seeing the British and Irish Lions coming to play in his homeland.

 “I remember watching them . . . the first memory was Pretoria 2009. It was like an elite club, at that stage. I thought I’m not getting in there, that’s probably the best of the best in the northern hemisphere, in the world. Just the way they mixed together, that camaraderie, it was the place you wanted to be. It was a great day. It was special.”

The flanker will join up with the Lions at the conclusion of Munster’s season, which he no doubt hopes is later rather than sooner as they face the Osprey’s in the Guinness Pro 12 semi-final on Saturday evening with the final set to be played a week later.