CJ: I wanted to flip the table and dance on it
BEEF wellington was on the plate and the Six Nations was on the television. Post-match banquets can be dry affairs, but at Lansdowne Road on Saturday night the Irish team were less interested in the speeches than the action from Paris.
When the match there ended and England were denied, the room erupted. But as the celebrations broke out in one half, in the other the Ireland players had a modest glass of wine, sat back and thought of England.
‘I felt inside I wanted to flip the table and dance on it,’ smiles CJ Stander. The delirium had to be put back a week, until the job is completed in Twickenham next Saturday.
It was Stander’s first championship triumph; he made his Ireland debut in February 2016, in the first match of an unsuccessful Six Nations defence.
‘It’s my first senior win ever in my life,’ he clarifies, running through disappointments in the Pro14 and European Cup with Munster.
He now has to make sure that the greatest glory has simply been deferred, and that he and his team-mates are not denied their Grand Slam in London.
Do that and their self-denial after the Scotland win will have been a small price.
‘I remember I was sitting next to [Conor] Murray, Earlsy [Keith Earls], Garry [Ringrose] was there, and all of our partners.
‘We had a glass of wine and said congratulations, and then you’re back into this week. There’s a lot to think about and work on.’
The vanquished Scots even managed to celebrate when the final whistle sounded in the Stade de France and Ireland were champions.
‘Everyone was celebrating and enjoying it,’ Stander recalls. ‘Even the Scotland players had a few cheers. It was special.
‘Look lads, to get a championship, to win it, is great, but I don’t want to take away from this week. It’s big for us.’
England tugs at his attention like an anxious child. The Irish squad have spoken in one unchanging voice since the end of January: their focus is on nothing but the next game.
But the next game is now a Grand Slam decider. They speak of being process-driven, of doing the small things correctly and trusting that they add up to a big reward, but this is the biggest match most of them will ever play in their lives.
‘There is a lot at the end of it,’ Stander briefly allows, before quickly locking on to the party line once more.
‘I think if you don’t treat it as just another game, your head and your thoughts are going to run away with you.
‘I think we as a players group and as a leaders group, know how to train in these weeks.
‘The experienced boys already spoke to us, those who’ve been there, and told us it’s another game. You need to start well, win the small battles, make sure you do what you can do during the week, recover well and play well.
‘The result is going to come if we play well.’
Stander knows something of the English challenge, having toured with their most important players for the Lions in New Zealand last summer.
‘When they get on the field, they switch on,’ he nods. ‘They’re physical. Mako [Vunipola] has great hands, Maro [Itoje] is one of the most powerful I’ve played against and played with.
‘Dan Cole is another guy who works hard and loves his scrumming, and Owen Farrell runs the whole thing.’
Stander won his third cap for Ireland in Twickenham two years ago. It was the third leg of what would be a Grand Slam for England, as they won 21-10. ‘I played there two years ago so they haven’t lost there for a reason, because they play well,’ he says. It is six years since England lost a Six Nations match at their home, and one must go a further two years back for Ireland’s last win there. ‘Their supporters come out and they know the pitch and how to play there, and they get another boost from the surroundings,’ says Stander, who has been outstanding throughout the spring.
‘I think you can surely can get intimidated by the stadium and the way they play but if you put that out of your mind in the warm-up and start well, then it won’t.’
His logic is as uncomplicated as his game. If it’s as effective, then Irish fans are in for a lively Saturday.