CJ Stander on why he won't hesitate coming to blows again with his head coach's son

Ireland flanker CJ Stander is convinced he has the backing of Andy Farrell should he once again come to blows with the head coach’s son. Stander delivered a series of strikes to the midriff of England captain Owen Farrell as he struggled to break free of his opponent during February’s Guinness Six Nations loss at Twickenham.

The former British and Irish Lions teammates are set to resume hostilities on Saturday when the Irish travel to London for an Autumn Nations Cup clash.

While a less experienced player may have feared the wrath of his boss, Stander would have no qualms about becoming embroiled in another physical altercation with Farrell junior.

CJ Stander responds to Rassie Erasmus’ claim that Ireland are soft

Video Player is loading.

Play Video

PauseSkip BackwardSkip Forward

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 0:00

Loaded: 0%

0:00

Stream Type LIVE

Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE

Remaining Time -0:00

 

1x

Playback Rate

Chapters

• Chapters

Descriptions

• descriptions off, selected

Captions

• captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
• captions off, selected

Audio Track

Fullscreen

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

Text

ColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-Transparent

Text Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparent

Caption Area Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque

Font Size

50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%

Text Edge Style

NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop shadow

Font Family

Proportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps

ResetDone

Close Modal Dialog

End of dialog window.

Close Modal Dialog

This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

CJ Stander responds to Rassie Erasmus’ claim that Ireland are soft

“On the pitch, it’s just like it’s another guy and you just want to get into them and do your thing. And afterwards, there’s actually a few laughs,” he said.

“If I was a bit younger and a bit insecure, (I would think) I’m going to be in trouble here, but we’ve got a job to do. He (Farrell senior) is our head coach, he backs us and we back him. We go up against England and it’s us against them, so he backs us.”

"It seems like they are in between two different styles of play"

– Dylan Hartley and Simon Zebo focus in on Wales' 6-game losing streak on the latest episode of RugbyPass Offload https://t.co/oSnWSStuWz

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 18, 2020

England player Farrell appeared to spark the bizarre incident by refusing to release his grip on Stander’s right leg at a ruck. Stander, who is poised to win his 44th cap this weekend, also had his Ireland shirt ripped off during an off-the-ball tussle with Maro Itoje that day and is anticipating another bruising encounter.

“Those things happen in a game and especially against England, they try to get into the game that way,” said the South Africa-born 30-year-old.

“It’s down to each individual, there hasn’t really been a message (from the head coach), it’s just what you bring to the game and how you deal with that situation. If there’s a scuffle and I’m in there then I’m backed by the team and so is everyone else.”

His only previous Ireland start – an August 2019 trip to Twickenham – cost him his RWC squad place https://t.co/JUx1zI4m0A

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 18, 2020