George-born CJ Stander in strong Munster squad
MUNSTER have named a strong squad, including South African-born British and Irish Lions loose forward CJ Stander, for their PRO14 clash against the Southern Kings in George on Saturday.
It will be a homecoming for Stander, who was born in George and played 52 matches for the Blue Bulls before leaving for Ireland, where he has chalked up 110 appearances for Munster.
Stander impressed during his 23 test appearances for Ireland which earned him a call-up to the British and Irish Lions.
Now he will be keen to shine on home turf as Munster bid to build up a head of steam ahead of their European Champions Cup semifinal showdown later this month.
Munster booked their semifinal berth thanks to a thrilling one-point victory over Toulon and will now face Racing 92 in Bordeaux on April 21.
But first they have a two-match tour of South Africa, where they will play the Kings and Cheetahs.
While Stander is in the squad, Tommy O’Donnell has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury.
He joins a long injury list, including Keith Earls, Tyler Bleyendaal, Duncan Williams, Chris Cloete, Jaco Taute and Chris Farrell.
A squad of 23 is heading to South Africa, including Simon Zebo, who came off during the match against Toulon with an injury following a collision with Chris Ashton.
Brian Scott, Dave O’Callaghan, Conor Oliver, Dan Goggin and academy player Calvin Nash are also travelling with the group.
Munster captain Peter O’Mahony paid tribute to the Munster backline after the Toulon win.
“It’s intense around Limerick and Cork and all over the province,” O’Mahony said.
“You have everyone coming up to wish you well and it’s nice to be able to step back from it, keep your head down and work hard over in South Africa. We have two big games. It would have been a difficult one to take to be knocked out in Europe.
“It will certainly make the next two weeks more enjoyable and we will try to enjoy ourselves and prepare for the semifinal.”
The Kings will train in Port Elizabeth until tomorrow before they leave for George, where they will make their final preparations.
The Kings’ final three PRO14 games are against Munster, Cardiff Blues (April 14) and the Cheetahs (April 27).
The Blues and Cheetahs matches will be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.