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20th March 2021
01:44pm GMT

CJ Stander and Munster head coach Johann van Graan celebrate after a Champions Cup win over Toulon in 2018. (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)[/caption]
Ireland would be his route into Test rugby, he knew, so he hopped on his very first flights and landed in Cork with one goal in mind. The IRFU had spotted a top prospect on the outside, looking in, and acted quickly. They also did so with the likes of Quinn Roux, Danie Poolman, Tyler Bleyendaal, Rodney Ah You, Jake Heenan, Bundee Aki, Max Sorenson and more.
As you may garner from those names (above), not every 'Project Player' made it to Test rugby.
Stander has been lauded since his arrival, and again these last few days, because he has played over 200 times for Munster and Ireland since his arrival, won more than 30 man-of-the-match awards, helped the Irish national team to a Grand Slam and played a big part in Munster reaching three league finals. Whatever the price was, Stander has paid in full and left a hefty tip.
So you read and hear comments about him playing us all for fools and heading back to South Africa to recharge his batteries for a few months before surfacing for the Bulls in 2022. All part of a cunning plan.
Personally, I hope he is retiring this summer and putting an end to that punishing daily grind at the age of 31. Going out in his prime and focusing on being a husband, father, farmer and coach. As he told the George Herald during this first Irish lockdown - when he went home - last April:
"I'm on 42 (Test caps) now. Hopefully if I can get to 50, that would be great. But it's not in my hands. There's a lot of youngsters coming through in that position."He will hang the No.6 jersey in the Ireland dressing room, this evening, and that will be that. Ireland will miss everything he brings - and he brings a LOT - but the likes of Gavin Coombes, Will Connors, Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird, Tadhg Beirne and a fit again Dan Leavy would all have been eyeing his place anyway. That being said, if he does return home and get the itch for high level rugby again, play away. You would hope that people would have development some more empathy, this past 14 months, and allowed people to pursue the path that makes them happiest.
CJ Stander during the Ireland Rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)[/caption]
We are not out of this Covid-19 pandemic yet, and its' after-effects will be felt for years yet. The union has lost a shed-load of money and the Six Nations represents the best opportunity to boost the coffers.
Every position higher you finish in the Six Nations, the better it works out for each union, to the tune of €500,000. So, finishing second instead of third would effectively cover the wages of two or three of your top players.
Some [including former Ireland winger Luke Fitzgerald] have asked why Farrell did not cut Stander loose and 'blood' another back-row. This goes against the logic of actually trying to win rugby games by picking your best players.
Stander has been blooded for the past five years, at Test level, and Ireland were first gunning for the championship and then - when that imploded after two losses - trying to finish as high up the table as possible. Taking him out of the team would have made as much sense as dropping Brian O'Driscoll [Six Nations in 2014] and Paul O'Connell [World Cup in 2015] even when you knew they were both playing their final tournaments.
Ireland will not be touring the Pacific Islands this summer and no summer Test matches have been confirmed. There is a likelihood that Farrell won't get his players back together again until November of this year. There will be plenty of time, in the interim, for the new back row candidates to stake claims.
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The majority of us expected Stander to get one more IRFU contract and stay on until the next World Cup, at least. It is right and proper for journalists and pundits to examine his decision to retire - we are not in the PR game, after all - but there talk about dropping a world-class talent like Stander is as nonsensical as those comments questioning his future moves in the game. As the man himself said, he would love to go back to George on the Western Cape and put his energies into finding more rugby players to represent the area on a national and international stage. The best Project Player to wear a green jersey will no doubt find a gem or two. Then the tug-of-war can begin all over again!Explore more on these topics: