CJ Stander was unanimously declared the player of the match against Wales last weekend but his blistering first cap performance belies the struggles he endured when he first came to Ireland.
It was well into his second season before CJ Stander found his rhythm at Munster and at one point, the exasperated player even contemplated returning to the motherland.
But one man's intervention prevented a potential catastrophe for Irish rugby and ultimately kept Stander on our shores. Paul O'Connell quickly took to Stander when he arrived as a 22 year-old in 2012 and he consoled the South-African when his debut season failed to take off.
Speaking to Irish media this week, Stander details how those words of encouragement, sustained him through the struggles.
SA-born @CJStander tells @EWNsport he was told by a coach in SA he was too small to play test rugby as a flank pic.twitter.com/ETCFXlIlQe
— EWN Sport (@EWNsport) February 11, 2016
''He saved my career for sure. After the first year at Munster it was tough but he came to me after every team announcement and just said ‘keep the faith lad, keep the faith. I’d be close to almost crying and he’d come up to me, this mountain of a man, Paul O’Connell. He doesn’t have to talk to me, he’s the captain of Ireland and he can just go on and do his own stuff.''
''But that’s the type of man he is. It’s never about him, always about the team. He’d come to me and say ‘listen here, keep the faith.''
''I’d be at the back of the bus in the corner and he’s in the middle and they’re joking and listening to what he has to say. For me, from South Africa, thinking I would play alongside a guy like that, I can’t put that into words.''
''He taught me a lot and all the praise he got, that’s exactly the type of man he is.''
We're not far away from Ireland's second Six Nations game of 2016 and Stander has retained his place in the starting 15.
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