Ireland and Munster back-rower CJ Stander has announced that he is ready to take on Russia on Thursday in a must win game for Ireland at the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
If picked it will be his third start in 11 days after playing during both Ireland’s 27-3 win over Scotland and the shocking 19-12 loss to hosts Japan on Saturday.
However, despite Ireland having a cluster of games so close together Stander is determined to play and do a job for the team if called upon.
“Yes definitely, it’s the excitement of the World Cup. This is what you want to do when you’re growing up, thinking about being part of a World Cup. So yes, recovery-wise we’re being looked after really well, we’ve got training on Tuesday, so we’ve got to make sure the body’s ready. So if I’m selected I’m good to go again,” he said.
Should Stander start it is unlikely that he will be joined in the back-row by Peter O’Mahony and Josh van der Flier for a third successive game as it is expected that head coach Joe Schmidt will rotate his squad for the must-win fixture.
With that in mind it would appear likely that Rhys Ruddock and Jordi Murphy will be either side of Stander. Murphy, is set to link up with the squad after No 8 Jack Conan was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a broken foot, but Stander is excited to have the Ulster star join them in Japan.
“Jordi always fits right in, we’re looking forward to getting him back in. He’s going to bring good balance a lot of energy to the back-row, with his ball-carrying. So we’re looking forward to having him in there,” he added.
Ireland’s game against the Russians has now become a vital fixture for the men in green following Saturday’s loss as they look to qualify for the quarter-finals. However, despite being a massive shock, Stander has admitted that the loss is close but not bottom of his career lows.
“It’s up there, I’d say it’s close to the bottom. My red card’s probably always going to be at the bottom,” he finished.
Going into the campaign it was believed that Ireland would be in pole position to finish on top of Pool A but Saturday’s defeat has dealt them a major blow, meaning they must now try and not only win but pick up bonus-points in their final two fixtures and even that may not be enough.
Stander and co will need to improve massively if they are to achieve their goal, but what is certain is that the squad are still positive, Stander has proved that, now they just need to produce positive performances on the pitch to get their World Cup back on track and keep the dream of holding the Webb Ellis Cup alive.
