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Perfect Covid storm led to rift between IRFU and CJ Stander

David Kelly

Bombshell departure only first symptom of pandemic as reality bites for Irish rugby

Ireland's CJ Stander (left) and Scotland's Huw Jones during the Guinness Six Nations match at BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh. Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Wire.

March 16 2021 09:32 PM

Amidst a global pandemic, home is where the heart is. And nobody can put a price on that.

CJ Stander (30) and his young family, who fashioned a hugely successful personal and professional second home in this country after his native land rejected his career advances, has decided to return to where that same family have been locked down for some time now.

Nobody without a beating heart can seek to gainsay the heartfelt sentiments that pull him towards the farming lands of his fledgling youth, to seek there the comfort and familiarity with which to resume the threads of a former existence.

And nobody without a logical brain can either contradict his right to reject what he feels are, rightly or wrongly, unfair valuations upon his worth as a rugby player, nor indeed the rights of those who currently employ him and so wish to amend their financial expectations of that value as they responsibly plan for an uncertain future.

The Left Wing · Neil Francis - I think we could see CJ Stander in a Bulls jersey sooner rather than later

This is at once strictly life. But it is also strictly business.

The IRFU cannot afford to indulge personal stories amidst a tail-spinning professional meltdown.

Stander’s sudden retirement is indeed a sporting bombshell but, with all his colleagues suffering swingeing pay cuts and reduced-length contracts, it is hardly a surprise.

And given the extraordinary set of global circumstances, as well as the separation of his family in lockdown back in South Africa, his decision, as confirmed by his team-mates on Tuesday, may have arrived with shocking abruptness in the midst of a defining week for an uncertain team and coach.

But, once digested from all sides, it appears to make ample sense.

It is quite easy to be at once emotionally empathetic to his choice while also possessing a logical understanding of the various circumstances which have prompted it.

Although Stander has cited personal reasons in a lengthy statement, it is no great stretch to deduce that he was unhappy with the contract offer made to him by the IRFU simply by the fact that we now know he has ultimately decided not to sign it.

The Munster player is out of contract at the end of the season and having been locked in negotiations with the union over the last few months, it is clear that neither Stander nor the IRFU were unable to come to terms.

The number eight was expected to sign a new two-year central contract extension, but having turned down whatever offer was made to him, Stander’s impending departure will now free up a considerable chunk of the IRFU’s wage bill.

Clearly, after the sides fell significantly short of agreement in the last contract talks, a second successive accommodation this time around would not prove to be so amenable.

Given the nature of this business, and the player’s obvious quality, other lucrative offers were on the table, including from France, but he was not keen to play for another club and, as such, he was called on to make a career decision before his current contract runs out on June 27.

Stander came through the Bulls’ system and when he returns to South Africa, he is likely to have further interest from clubs back home.

The prospect of him returning in a Bulls jersey to face Munster in a Rainbow Cup clash some time in the future may seem unconscionable to many – “I don’t think so,” smiled Keith Earls – but, just as the professional realities of the sport brought him to these shores so, too, do they carry him homeward.

That seems unlikely and, as he departs, in full health in mind and body, he will be wished well for his personality and professionalism.

The IRFU have their own realities to deal with, especially now.

They and other players would have recognised there were few other alternatives in a post-pandemic land but to stay put in their lockdown homes and accept lesser salaries than they would have preferred, like so many in this country.

Presented with his own personal dilemma, Stander has made his choice and few can cavil with it.

The IRFU, in handing out smaller-length contracts for lesser amounts, are dealing with the post-pandemic train-wreck as prudently as they can; even the CVC windfall will not inure them from more cost-cutting in years to come.

There will still remain a small cohort of specifically hand-chosen players who may command relatively exalted high salaries – but with many deals now ending before the next World Cup, a day of reckoning is upon all involved in this sport.

The centrally contracted model will become a thing of the past and the IRFU are already plotting this path towards a different future.

The players will walk it too, no longer guaranteed the once wily negotiating tactic of agents speculating wildly about French cuisine in their charges’ ears as everyone cuts their cloth.

For now, this remains a bombshell – for Andy Farrell, too, an uncertain coach with a decisive English date looming.

As Stander, healthy and happy, bows out bequeathing so many memories, ultimately, Irish rugby will trundle on into its uncertain future. In some ways, he’s the lucky one to be getting out at the top of his game and his health.

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