CJ STANDER has been named the Rugby Writers of Ireland, Player of the year for 2016. The Munster star and current Irish international has excelled for both province and country this season, finishing the November series with wins over Australia and New Zealand, while Munster sit atop the Guinness Pro12 table. CJ sat down with PostSport to talk about his year and the future for him and Irish rugby. Enjoy.
Congratulations, you’re the Guinness Rugby Writers’ Player of the Year….
“Oh, lovely, thank you very much. That’s great.
All that hand shaking before press conferences paid off!
“Yeah, I’ll keep on doing it now for sure. That’s great.
“I know you all work hard doing your job and I just want to work hard doing my job and if we all have an understanding of each other then that’s great. I always feel I’m on your good side and you’re on my good side so hopefully we can keep it that way.”
You were Munster POY for the second year in a row, the IRUPA Players’ POY, several hundred man of the match awards, that’s a lot of positive recognition….
“Yeah, it’s good to get it. I think when you’re a younger boy you go through a stage where you want to get a lot of pats on the back but when you get older and you get into a team you just want to perform for all the boys and for the team to help them win. That’s really my biggest drive.
“It’s been a great year, an unbelievable last three years and I’ve worked hard to get to the place where I am now. The biggest thing for me now is to drive on from there and not settle or be part of the furniture. You always have to push on and create something new.
“My dad always used to say to me “your boss is only getting born”, that someone is stepping up to make life difficult for you. He used to say it in Afrikaans but it means that the guy who’s going to push you out of your position is only over your shoulder.
“So that’s a big drive for me not to think I’ve done enough. I just want to keep on performing for the team, that’s important for me, and lead a few teams.
In a big year for you, how much was getting the Munster captaincy….
“That was big. When I got the tap from Axel I couldn’t believe it. It was something special. You always think about it and all the boys who’ve captained the team and you think that’s something you want to do one day. Then it happens and you’re in the moment.
“It was difficult in some stages I think I lost more than we won but I’ve learned a lot and in our group there’s a lot of boys that stepped up as leaders around me and now Pete’s back that’s good because there’s a lot of people to help him.
“I’ve been there in those shoes and it’s a difficult place to be if it’s not going well, so it’s good to have people around you that support you and has your back.”
And more milestones, not least your Test debut and victory over the All Blacks. Are those your highlights?
“For sure, getting my first cap was a highlight. It was an unbelievable week, I can’t even remember a lot of it, it just went by so quick. There was a lot of emotion, you’re not sure if you’re going to be a part of it and I couldn;t get my family over because I only heard I was starting on the Thursday. So that was amazing.
“Then getting Munster player of the year again was something that I worked towards. I want to be consistent, week in and week out. I dont want to just get on to the pitch and presume I’m going to play the same game I play every week. So to get that from the Munster players was massive and then the IRUPA award, to get that from the players around you, from your peers, that’s big.
“Chicago was up there, close to number one. I wish we could have pulled the wagon through the river again this week but to win that one was still very, very special. Just all the history around it, the whole week and the excitement.
“Going there, people will have doubted what we could do but inside we knew what we could do something. Then the excitement coming back to Ireland, to Limerick and to Dublin, the vibe and the people, it was good to see that we did something that the people enjoyed.”
It’s also been a difficult year in many ways, your sending off in South Africa, and certainly the sudden passing of Axel. Are you someone who gains strength in adversity?
“Yeah, I think so. I would say this last year has also been one of the toughest years of my rugby career with all the stuff that happened. It was difficult just being in a team needing to win week in, week out just to qualify for Europe.
“Then going out to South Africa to perform and then not getting the chance. At some stage you’d probably start doubting yourself but I’ve learned, for myself and from other people, to go from week to week and put it all behind you.
“The passing away of the big man, Axel, was very tough and I won’t put that behind me but the South Africa thing, the red card, for me personally it was one of my worst days but the team won and for the first time won in South Africa so there was a bigger picture and it was about the team, not about yourself. You can’t go into a corner and feel bad for yourself if you’re not going to perform the next week (through suspension) you still have to give the boys in green your best training during the week, get out of your shell and work your hardest for the team.
“That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned in the last few years, as long as you hard for the people around you, they’ll pick you up, especially in this group and the group down in Munster. They’re special people, very special people. They’re people you can sit down with and talk to them if you have a problem, so it’s good.
What’s the potential for Munster under Rassie?
“I was at the Maori game. The week before, you’re not training with the boys, you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t even know who’s going to play but Rassie just brings a new dimension.
“He’s an unbelievable coach. He knows what other teams are going to do and bring before they get onto the pitch so you know by Monday what to do, the same thing as up here.
“He brings a lot of passion and he’s honest. I think that’s the biggest thing about him.
“And then you get Jacques who’s so passionate about defence that you can feel it. I like passion and he brings it to defence; Jerry Flannery with the scrums and Felix, he was playing the game a year ago and now he’s stepping up and he has that passion, you see him jumping up and down in the coaches’ box.
“I just feel that we last year lacked a bit of confidence and the management have brought that back in.
“After Axel’s death I think we realised that we’re here now, we disappointed ourselves last year but we have an opportunity to do something.
“If it’s to play for Axel or if it’s playing for yourself or for the management or play for our jersey, that’s back. That’s something that I think we lacked a bit last year but it’s come back.
“It was the worst week and the worst day for everyone when Axel passed away but it’s as if he’s still around us and he’s reunited us as a team.
“Everyone’s together whereas before, if you walked in two years ago and you saw an academy guy you might just wave. Now we’re in the one centre and everyone knows everyone’s name and we’re all in one changing room and it’s a different vibe. It’s great to have.
“So it was one of the toughest weeks but I could see boys turning into men. It was something a lot of people will never experience again in their lifetime and I think the group learned massively out of it.
“It just shows, I think it united the team, that whole week.””
What do you take from those two Tests with New Zealand?
“There’s a lot of positives but the biggest thing is the belief, in yourself and the people around you. Everyone believes in one goal and one specific thing you have to go and do on the pitch; the belief in everything you do the whole week and that it’s going to work.
“New Zealand are the best team in the world but if you step up against them and make sure everything is 100 per cent you can do it, but if you make a mistake they’re going to penalise you.
“What I’ve learned in international rugby is that everything has to be instinctive.You can’t stop and think ‘I’m going to do this’ because while you’re thinking they’re doing something different. So everything has to be on instinct. All their players work on instinct and that’s why they had the edge for a while but now I’m looking forward to the next few seasons.”
When you look at Ireland’s performances since a disappointing 6N, and with Joe Schmidt signing a new contract, very bright future ahead going into the Six Nations and beyond?
“As a group we were disappointed with the Six Nations. We had a few games where we were on the edge of winning and just gave it away. The same thing led into South Africa where we won the first match and in the second match we were up by 16 points and they came back to win. That led into the third match.
But there’s a lot of depth now and it was great to see against Canada that you can make 15 changes and the boys stepped up and got 50 points. We all work hard for each other and there’s a common goal we work towards and Joe, for me personally, is the best coach in the world. You go out onto the pitch and just play your game and be disciplined and consistent and just do what youve done during the week and you get results. The other coaches too, they work hard and the boys work hard for each other around you and you just have to do your job and not worry about someone else. Our set piece is unbelievable and its great to be in the squad.”
Squad strength seems to be deepening and nowhere more than in the back row, just how competitive is it with Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’Brien back in harness?
“Yeah, that’s the thing. If you miss one meeting or one training someone just steps in and they do their job.
“It just shows the depth we have and also that jersey, you play in it week in week out but it’s not yours. You have to play in it as if it’s maybe your last time.
“That’s nice because you want to train harder and you want to play harder. If you’re not on top of your game you’re going to be quickly at the back of the line again and then you’re going to have to work yourself back up through the ranks.
“All across the board there’s a lot of competition in every position and that’s really what drives the players. There’s a bit of a fear factor almost. As I said, you need to perform or else it’s to the back of the line.”
What strides have you made personally as a player this year and what are you working on to get better?
“The big thing I stepped up was just making sure that I recovered after games and training. I think that’s where I stepped up a lot – ice baths, compression and all that stuff.
“Otherwise, making the weak parts of your game your strengths, keeping working on them and getting something different into your game. If I’m carrying well then maybe adding one or two offloads here and there or at the back of the scrum, securing the ball, or playing 6 that you’re a lineout option.
“But making sure you look after your body because it’s quite demanding training and playing week in week out and if you don’t do that you’re going to pick up a niggle and you’re going to be in trouble.
“So you just need to make sure you’re at the front of the pack. The middle of the pack isn’t a bad spot but you can easily slip back to the end of the pack and you’re fighting an uphill battle from there.
“Then for the next few years, I can’t just keep doing what I’ve been doing. Everyone’s doing it or they’re going to be doing that so I need to look at my game and see if it’s speed I need to work on or if it’s defence or my carries.
“I need to see where I can improve and there’s good honesty in the coaching staff at Munster and up here with Ireland so if I have a weakness they’ll tell you and we’ll work on it.
“That’s all positive. You have to go forward. There’s another quote from my dad, he says ‘you’re not playing tug of war, the only way you’re winning there is if you’re going backwards’.
“If you go backwards in rugby you’re losing and for me it’s the same in life, you need to go forward in anything you do.
“Luckily, my wife knows that at this stage. We’re always in the same team because I can’t walk the dog without it being a competition, I need to win with my dog the first one into the door.
“I’ve got a good support system around me with my wife and my family. They’ll keep on pushing me, we’re pushing each other so it’s good to have a good support structure around you. I think I missed that when I left to come over here. I just had my wife who was brilliant but has been there all along but I missed that from my family, including my Dad.”
