VIDEO: CJ Stander gets emotional after last match
WATCH as Munster’s Irish international Christiaan Stander speaks out in the wake of his final game before walking off into the proverbial sunset.
The South African back row captained the Irish province as they lost 33-40 to Toulouse in a European Cup last 16 thriller.
Stander, in an interview with Munster’s media department, said he looking forward to returning to Thomond Park as a fan in the future.
Last month Stander announced that he’ll retire from the game at the end of the season.
He ended his Ireland career with an enthralling victory over England in the last round of the Six Nations in Dublin.
However, Munster lost to Leinster in the Pro14 Final and bowed out of Europe in the Round of 16.
In an emotional interview, Stander opened up about Munster’s ‘special’ Thomond Park atmosphere as he prepares to return to his extended family in South Africa.
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“I’m going to miss this place,” Stander told the province’s in-house media.
“Just before I arrived here, I remember watching a European game here. I think they were playing Edinburgh. Those flags in the tunnel.
“I was just sitting at home and thinking: ‘I would love to run out here one day’.
“Today [Saturday] was special, to be captain of a side like this,” he said.
“It would have been great to get some silverware, but it wasn’t to be for me or Billy [Holland].
“They [Munster] are going to get some silverware.
“I can’t wait to sit in the stand with the full 26,000 and watch that happen.”