CJ Stander's amusing approach to keeping fit on the family farm in South Africa

CJ Stander has gone to unusual lengths to keep his fitness ticking over during the rugby shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Rather than see the crisis out in Limerick after Ireland’s final two Guinness Six Nations matches against Italy and France were postponed because of the virus outbreak, the South African has used the game’s suspension to head home to the family farm where he grew up in George on the Western Cape.

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While there he has been busy filming his training exploits on Instagram, posting two drills that surely has never done at the Munster high-performance training centre.

In one clip posted ahead of his 30th birthday next Sunday, the back row is seen lifting a heavy bag of De Heus animal feed repeatedly over his head. 

However, his second clip was far more humorous, Stander showing some evasion skills in a field while being chased by a sheep.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Time to get creative with your time alone. @adidas @adidasrugby #hometeam

A post shared by CJ Stander (@cjstander) on Mar 31, 2020 at 12:49pm PDT

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View this post on Instagram

 

Have to get the contact skills in ?? ? my old nemesis ? . . No animals were hurt during this session. #hometeam @adidas @adidasrugby

A post shared by CJ Stander (@cjstander) on Apr 2, 2020 at 2:47am PDT

The South African, who qualified for Ireland under residency, has earned 41 caps for his adopted country, netting the man of the match award in the recent February wins over Scotland and Wales. 

He also represented the British and Irish Lions in their drawn Test series in New Zealand in 2017 and will be looking for another visit to his home farm in South Africa next year if he gets selected in Warren Gatland’s 2021 tour squad. 

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