CJ Stander's career began in his native South Africa, where he played for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup between 2010 and 2012 and for the Bulls in Super Rugby in 2012.
68 Facts About CJ Stander
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CJ Stander was born in George, South Africa, where his family own a farm.
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CJ Stander went to Blanco Primary School, where he began playing rugby at the age of nine, playing as a fly-half.
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CJ Stander then went to Hoer Landbouskool Oakdale, where he shifted into the number eight position at the age of 14.
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CJ Stander earned provincial colours for three consecutive years, representing the SWD Eagles at youth tournaments.
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CJ Stander started all three of their matches at the tournament, helping them to two victories and a draw.
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CJ Stander led from the front, scoring two tries against the Leopards, one try against KwaZulu-Natal and a hat-trick in their final match against the Griffons to finish as the tournament's top try scorer.
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CJ Stander was again named captain of SWD for the 2008 Craven Week, which was held at Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool in Pretoria.
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CJ Stander initially found himself fast-tracked into their Under-21 team, starting their first four matches in the Under-21 Provincial Championship, before then reverting to the Under-19 team.
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CJ Stander scored two tries against Leopards U19 in his first match at that level, as he helped the team qualify for the semi-finals by winning all six of their matches to top the log.
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CJ Stander returned to domestic rugby for the Blue Bulls by featuring in a compulsory friendly match against the Mighty Elephants.
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CJ Stander made a further four starts and two appearances as a replacement, but with players like Danie Rossouw returning from international duty, dropped back into the Blue Bulls U21 team.
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CJ Stander took part in all of the Blue Bulls' eleven matches in the competition, making six starts and coming on as a replacement in the other five.
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CJ Stander started off the season by scoring a try in their opening match against a Sharks XV, but failed to get on the scoreboard again for the remainder of the regular season, as the Blue Bulls won just three of their eight matches, but still finished in fourth place in the Northern Section to secure the final quarter final place.
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At the start of 2012, CJ Stander was included in the Bulls squad for the first time; they are the Super Rugby franchise affiliated to the Blue Bulls provincial team.
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CJ Stander scored two tries in his first start in the competition against the Free State Cheetahs, and more tries against the Sharks, Griquas and their return match against the Free State Cheetahs.
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In June 2012, CJ Stander signed a deal to join Irish province Munster on a two-year contract at the end of the 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division season.
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CJ Stander later revealed that one of the reasons for his move was that he was considered to be too small to be a South Africa international.
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CJ Stander arrived in Ireland to join up with the Munster squad on 30 October 2012.
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Five days after arriving in Ireland, CJ Stander went on a night out in Cork with his new teammates, but ended up almost sleeping on the streets after ending up alone outside of a bar.
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Fortunately, CJ Stander recalled that one of his new teammates, Barry O'Mahony lived near the a guide dogs facility in Cork, and was able to get a taxi to his home.
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CJ Stander made his debut for Munster on 25 November 2012, coming on as a replacement in the Pro12 fixture against Scarlets.
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CJ Stander made his first start for Munster against Glasgow Warriors in Thomond Park on 1 December 2012, scoring two tries in a Man-of-the-Match winning performance.
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CJ Stander was ruled out for a month after breaking a bone in his hand during the Glasgow game.
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CJ Stander made his comeback from the injury on 5 January 2013, in a Pro12 game against Cardiff Blues in Musgrave Park.
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CJ Stander scored his third try in just four appearances for Munster on 9 February 2013, when he made his second start for the club against Edinburgh.
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CJ Stander revealed in 2020 that he arrived at Munster unable to speak English, and it was two or three years before he was confident enough to speak up during training or meetings.
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CJ Stander scored his first try in his second season at Munster during an uncapped pre-season friendly against Gloucester on 24 August 2013.
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CJ Stander scored two tries in his first full appearance of the season, against Zebre, on 13 September 2013.
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CJ Stander made his Heineken Cup debut on 12 October 2013, coming off the bench against Edinburgh in Munster's opening pool game.
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In January 2014, CJ Stander signed a new two-year contract with Munster.
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CJ Stander scored his seventh try for Munster in a Pro14 fixture against Cardiff Blues on 8 February 2014.
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CJ Stander scored a try in Munster's win against Benetton on 12 September 2014.
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CJ Stander started against Saracens in Round 2 of the Champions Cup on 24 October 2014.
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CJ Stander started the Round 3 game against Clermont Auvergne on 6 December 2014.
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CJ Stander started in the reverse fixture against Clermont on 14 December 2014.
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CJ Stander started against Saracens on 17 January 2015, but went off with an injured ankle in the first-half.
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CJ Stander returned from the injury on 21 February 2015, starting in the game against Scarlets.
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CJ Stander won the 2015 Munster Rugby Senior Player of the Year Award in April 2015, becoming the first overseas player to do so.
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CJ Stander started in the 2015 Pro12 Grand Final against Glasgow Warriors on 30 May 2015.
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CJ Stander came off the bench against Ospreys on 13 September 2015, scoring a try that leveled the scores and allowed Ian Keatley to kick the conversion that won the match for Munster.
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In December 2015, CJ Stander signed a two-year contract extension with Munster, which will see him remain with the province until at least June 2018.
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CJ Stander started against Leicester Tigers in the Champions Cup on 12 December 2015.
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In May 2016, CJ Stander won the Rugby Players Ireland Players' Player of the Year Award, just the third overseas player to do so.
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CJ Stander won the Irish Times-sponsored Supporters' Player of the Year Award, becoming the first overseas winner of the award and the first player to win both the Players' and Supporters' awards in the same season.
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In May 2016, CJ Stander was named the Munster Player of the Year, becoming the first player to win the award in successive seasons.
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In Munster's game against Glasgow Warriors on 22 October 2016, their first since the sudden death of then-Head Coach Anthony Foley on 16 October, the number 8 jersey was retired for the occasion, as a tribute to Foley, and CJ Stander wore the number 24 instead.
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On 29 November 2016, CJ Stander was named the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Player of the Year at an event in Dublin.
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On 27 May 2017, CJ Stander started for Munster against Welsh side Scarlets in the 2017 Pro12 Grand Final.
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CJ Stander signed a new three-year contract with the IRFU in December 2017, a deal that will see him remain with Munster until at least June 2021.
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CJ Stander started for Munster in the 2021 Pro14 Grand Final against Leinster on 27 March 2021, in what was his final league appearance for the province.
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In January 2016, CJ Stander was called up to Ireland's training squad for the 2016 Six Nations Championship.
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On 20 January 2016, CJ Stander was named in Ireland's 35-man squad for the 2016 Six Nations.
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On 13 February 2016, CJ Stander started against France in Ireland's second game of the Six Nations.
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On 25 May 2016, CJ Stander was named in the 32-man Ireland squad to tour his native South Africa in a 3-test series.
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On 11 June 2016, CJ Stander started in the first test against South Africa.
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CJ Stander was sent off during the first half for a late hit on Patrick Lambie, the first red card of his career.
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On 26 October 2016, CJ Stander was named in Ireland's squad for the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals.
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On 23 January 2017, CJ Stander was named in the Ireland squad for the opening two rounds of the 2017 Six Nations Championship.
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On 18 March 2017, CJ Stander made a late switch to Number 8 for Ireland when Jamie Heaslip pulled out of the game against England during the warm-up.
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CJ Stander started in Ireland's wins against South Africa and Argentina during the 2017 Autumn Internationals, whilst featuring off the bench in the win against Fiji.
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CJ Stander started four games for Ireland as they won a Grand Slam in the 2018 Six Nations Championship, featuring off the bench against Italy and scoring a try against England.
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CJ Stander's try against England was nominated for the Volkswagen-sponsored Try of the Year when the 2018 Rugby Players Ireland Awards nominees were announced in April 2018.
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CJ Stander was selected in the 31-man Ireland squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, having featured in the warm-up match against England and the second fixture against Wales.
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CJ Stander was nominated for the 2020 Six Nations Player of the Championship.
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CJ Stander is married to Jean-Marie Neethling, the sister of South African olympic gold medalist Ryk Neethling.
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CJ Stander's brother, Janneman Stander, is a rugby union player in South Africa for the SWD Eagles.
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CJ Stander was named an honorary Limerick man at the Limerick Person of the Year awards in April 2021, and appeared on The Late Late Show in May 2021, discussing in particular the famous figure of 8 that the Ireland players formed in tribute to Anthony Foley ahead of their historic first ever win against New Zealand in 2016, and the support he received from the vast majority of the public when faced with criticism of being a South African playing for Ireland.