CJ Stander Says Anthony Foley Pushed Him To The Next Level In Famous All Blacks Win

For Axel.

As Ireland faced the infamous All Blacks Haka before their memorable victory, the entire team lined up in a figure of eight in honour of the late, great Anthony Foley. The former Munster and Ireland legend tragically past away only a few weeks ago and the game marked the first time Ireland had played since his passing.

Speaking after the game Munster legend CJ Stander spoke about this very special moment.

“Yeah, dunno if you saw it, we made an eight, a figure of eight. We made a decision about that during the week. For me personally and Murray and all the Munster boys standing there it was big.

“Same as the Glasgow match we wanted to give something back to him and the family. He meant a lot to me and was really the rock in my rugby development these last four years. Showed me what he learned over the years.

When CJ Stander first came to Munster it looked as if he would be heading back to South Africa before his career with the southern province ever began. Then along cam Anthony Foley as Munster’s new head coach. Foley gave Stander his chance in the Munster team and he hasn’t looked back since.

“He pushed me to the next level.

“I just think of what man he was, the legend he was. What he gave to me as a rugby player. In that 60th minute when I got tired, I was just thinking: why am I playing this match? Who got me here? Everything he gave to me. That was massive for me.”

Beautiful words from the South African born star. No doubt Axel will be damn proud of the performance Stander and Ireland put in yesterday.