Joe Schmidt Comments On CJ Stander’s Amazing Cross-Field Kick
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He definitely meant it.
It was a pretty good day at the office for Ireland and CJ Stander yesterday. Joe Schmidt’s men breezed past Italy in a commanding 63-10 win, while Stander grabbed himself a hat-trick of tries and the man of the match award to go along with it.
Stander became the first forward in Six Nations history to bag a hat-trick, while he was also the first Irish player to grab one since Brian O’Driscoll against Scotland back in 2002.
His most memorable moment however, came when he picked up a loose ball from the base of a ruck and put an absolute pin-point kick in behind for Craig Gilroy to scoop up and run in for an excellent try.
Whether or not he meant it, we’ll never know. Joe Schmidt is backing Stander all the way.
“He (Gilroy) was the recipient of one of the most outstanding tactical kicks I’ve seen in a long time from CJ Stander. CJ swears that it was meant to come off the side of his foot like that so he could get the relevant spin to get it into Craig’s hands.
Damn right it did.
