CJ Stander was a man possessed at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Sitting in the Aviva Stadium West Stand for Ireland’s Six Nations opener, we were aware that Stander was having a great game. Looking back on the tape, the sheer magnitude of his performance becomes apparent.
Ireland went through 19 phases in their opening possession and Stander was heavily involved. He made three carries, two clear-outs and put Johnny Sexton into a gap out wide on the right.
A familiar sight in the first half was Stander arriving on the scene with his palms out – ‘I want the carry’.
The closest Ireland came to that early reward was when Stander picked and sniped at a ruck deep inside the Welsh 22. It was exactly the type of play to set the Welsh back on their heels.
His first major defensive contribution saw him team up with Andrew Trimble to choke tackle Tom James. Referee Jerome Garces should have awarded Ireland a scrum put-in but he allowed play to develop.
No problem to Stander as he stepped back, braced himself and sat down the charging Liam Williams.
Back in the attack, as the game ticked past 10 minutes, and Ireland surged back. Another couple of Stander carries feature prominently. Notable from each of his carries was the flanker’s clean presentation, allowing Ireland to keep a swift pace.
Ireland went through 15 phases before Sexton slotted over his second penalty. Stander was looking a bit gassed during this foray but still made three carries and, again, a couple of clear-outs.
He was setting a high standard for himself yet keeping it up.
Back to the pump and the South African teamed up extremely well with Jamie Heaslip to extinguish any notions Justin Tipuric of breaching the Irish lines. It was a staunch effort at Stander was leading the way. After 15 minutes, he had already landed six tackles.
Such was the impact he was having, and gains he was making, that Stander became the go-to option for Conor Murray and Sexton. Target the outhalf? Taking a hospital pass and horsing into contact? Punching a hole in the defence? Give it to CJ.
Stander was denied a try after 25 minutes in a move that deserved a score.
Ireland’s set plays of successful lineouts was a real positive from Sunday’s draw. Their play harked back to that one glorious season with John Plumtree as forwards coach.
On this occasion, Stander’s starting position was beside Jack McGrath at the front of the lineout.
Devin Toner was the decoy, Tommy O’Donnell the jumper and Stander was off.
He evaded Scott Baldwin and skittled Rhys Priestland. The replacement Welsh outhalf did well to clutch onto Stander’s trailing boot. It prevented a try in that phase but, after O’Donnell went close, Stander was up and at it again.
He burrowed over the line and may well have grounded the ball. Three Welsh players, particularly, Tipuric, did enough to fuzzy the picture for the TMO and the game went on.
Within 90 seconds and Ireland had their try, through Murray. Stander featured in the stable scrum that set up the attack and wrested Toby Faletau away from a ruck but the score was all down to Murray’s intelligence and a timely intervention by Mike McCarthy.
Ireland were then driven into their own half by Wales, as the first 40 wound up. Stander took a Jonathan Davies fend-off on the chin yet managed to wrangle him to the turf.
Stander was on the wrong side of the scrum that Wales expertly turned to take O’Donnell out of the game and give Toby Faletau the space to rampage over.
The second half saw Stander used as a decoy runner, which was a canny move on Ireland’s behalf. By showing and not going, he often sucked red jerseys out of line and made space for other runners. This worked to fine effect for Robbie Henshaw, Jared Payne [pictured below, red arrow] and Sexton incursions.
Wales did a much greater job of pressing up, on the verge of offside, on Ireland in the second half. Notably, they tackled Stander lower as they were aware of how reckless it was to go high on the big guy.
He allowed a turnover in contact, after 51 minutes, but returned to his flawless self after that. Most of his best worked was in defence as Ireland were under a severe cosh.
As the clock ticked past 80 minutes, Stander gave it one last push. He managed to make it from a scrum, by the far touchline, to a final push for the win around the halfway line. Palms out, calling the ball on himself.
Sure what else would you expect?
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