CJ Stander is eager to reward the Thomond faithful

They’ve done the yard yakka with back-to-back away wins to secure their place in the last eight of the European Cup for the 16th time in the last 19 seasons. Yet the job truly is only half done. Were Munster not to secure a home quarter-final by dint of beating Racing 92 at Thomond Park next Saturday, it would be truly anti-climactic.

Being drama kings, they like taking it to the wire. The last time Munster secured qualification for the knockout stages with a round to spare as reigning champions in January 2007, it assuredly took a little of the edge off their final pool game at home to Leicester.

That first defeat in European rugby at Thomond Park consigned them to an away quarter-final in Llanelli, which they lost, before regaining the title a year later.

Granted, this is different. Racing are not what Leicester were at the time.

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Then again, neither are Leicester, as evidenced by a third hammering on the road in the pool stages this season when Racing inflicted a 34-3 beating last Saturday to compound the 42-13 and 38-0 losses away to Glasgow and Munster.

All in all, that Racing win over Leicester is probably a good thing for Munster.

It means the Parisians have redeemed modicum of pride in themselves by climbing off zero points, and their upcoming Top 14 game will assuredly be a bigger focus than this Saturday’s trip to Limerick.

Munster will be locked and fully loaded and Thomond Park will be jammed. Their Limerick citadel has rediscovered its 16th man and Munster have a compelling motive to afford their fans a home quarter-final.

Special place

“Yeah, it’s a special place,” agrees CJ Stander. “The experience there, you get out there and it’s a sea of red and I’m massively proud to be in a set up like this, where you see supporters that keep giving everything.

“That brings you back and makes you think about your game and the need to keep giving everything for them because they travel over here and they’ll be in Thomond Park in full flight.

“You don’t want to disappoint them, it’s a special place and I think everyone’s going to want to work hard to get back there [for a quarter-final]. But on the flip side, if we don’t get there we’ll just keep on doing what we’re doing and keep up the hard work.”

But to not get a home quarter-final now would be deflating. “We still need to go out and work hard next weekend,” said Stander.

“It comes down to the day and how they pitch up. We have to take that into consideration. The European Cup is a different game, you need to pitch up every week and if you don’t you’re going to disappoint yourself.

“If we don’t pitch up during the week and don’t train well this week it’s going to be a tough weekend. On the other side, we were looking forward to a game like this. These are the ones you want to be picked for.”

Stander was famously caught by the Sky cameras kissing and making up with Peter O’Mahony following an on-field exchange after Stander gave away a couple of penalties.

Such an approach, with players encouraging each other to move on from mistakes and work for each other, is typical of the togetherness which Rassie Erasmus has harnessed this season.

“Everyone works hard for each other and when someone is not having a great day, people around them, they hold you up. And if you make a mistake, everyone’s around you.

“There’s maybe a few words here and there but we work hard for each other because we know what the goal is and where we need to be.

“You need to work hard in that jersey and make it proud for the boys next to you because you don’t want to disappoint them and the supporters and especially the coaches.”

Direct man

Of Erasmus’ influence, Stander said: “He just wants us to go out there and play our game and enjoy it in the first place.

“He want you to try your best and try something and make it work and if we fail, well, if we’ve worked hard at it he’s happy with it and if we go at it half-arsed he’s not happy.

“He’s a direct man, he wants the best for the team and he’ll always pick the best player to do that at that stage.

“He’s a guy that brings excitement but also he brings planning so we come in on a Monday to work hard for the week and come Saturday you just want to be physical and perform for him, Jacques [Nienaber], Felix [Jones] and Fla [Jerry Flannery] because they work so hard during the week to make sure we can perform on the weekend.”

Not alone have Munster proven themselves to be a good team this season, but they have a stronger squad as well. Andrew Conway and Jack O'Donoghue were two of their best performers in Saturday's win over Glasgow and each effectively owed their starting places due to the injuries that sidelined Darren Sweetnam and Tommy O'Donnell, with O'Donoghue leading the tackle count in a relatively unfamiliar seven jersey.

“Everyone wants to be in that jersey now,” says Stander. “Jack got the call-up this week and he knew exactly what to do. He came in at openside where he’s been playing before but I think he’s a six or an eight.

“That just shows what he gives up for the team. He picks us up and works hard for the team.

“He’s a great talent and I think he’s going to be one of the best players in the next few years and I’m looking forward to what he can bring to the party.

“We’re all [competing] in the backrow, but we’re all good mates and we want to see each other perform. We’re close as a team and that’s the difference we bring to the team.”