Stander is going to be a marked man, but he revels in these situations.
Last week, as Ireland trained in Spain, we noted how CJ Stander’s Six Nations workload was set to massively increase.
Josh van der Flier, selected by Joe Schmidt to face France, was our call to step into the openside breach after Sean O’Brien’s hip injury forced him out of Ireland’s opening games. The 24-year-old is having a good run of it for Leinster and deserves a couple of games to stake a claim for that No.7 jersey.
Van der Flier, though, is not in the same ball-carrying, gainline-bypassing league as O’Brien in his pomp. Alternative opensides Dan Leavy [on the bench] and Jordi Murphy have better stats with ball in hand but that’s not to say that van der Flier is not a threat. He is more the type of player that will win his team a yard, maybe two.
With Peter O’Mahony another who rarely punctures defences and makes double-figure metre gains in matches, that leaves Stander as the back row carrier. The torchbearer and the man with a target on his back, chest, ribs and just about everywhere else.
Ireland are fond of going in pods of three when trying to wear the opposition down, open gaps and initiate strike-plays but their attacking plans will benefit more if a few men can step up with meaningful carries. For this, Schmidt will look to Iain Henderson and Tadhg Furlong but a lot of the pressure is on Stander.
It is a difficult position to be in but Stander’s attitude about it is fantastic. It is heartening. He told us:
“Look, we’ve all got different aspects to our game that we do well. But I think there’s a good mix between the three of us.
“Pete has stepped up a good few times, to carry hard, for Munster this season and Josh isn’t shy for a good carry. In training we shared the work-load. With the backs we have, too, they can take the ball up hard.
“We all have our jobs to do but if the ball comes my way, I’ll take it. I won’t be scared to take it.”
For Stander, fear of being that go-to guy never comes into the equation.
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The Munster back-row is back to something like the form that brought him to international prominence in 2016 and the first half of 2017 [before an ankle injury slowed his charge]. Stander reassured Irish supporters that he is primed for another gung-ho Six Nations campaign.
“I’m 100%,” he declared. “I’ve shrugged off all the knocks and niggles and looking forward to putting my body into a physical game.”
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
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