CJ Stander picked up the showpiece gong at the IRUPA awards ceremony last night. He ends his first Six Nations campaign as Player of the Year among both supporters and fellow players.
Whatever is Irish rugby's equivalent of 'Oscar buzz' - 'IRUPA Buzz' they could call it - it was all focused on CJ. His bullocking runs and mincing tackles were an uplifting sight in a fallow year for the Irish rugby team.
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We all know why he was honoured. The best reasons are detailed below.
Stopping the gallop of Mr. Vunipola
With Ireland more or less permanently on the retreat in a difficult first half in Twickenham, Stander's magnificent tackle on England's rampant No.8 Billy Vunipola kept the game frustratingly close for the home team at half-time.
First half against Wales
It was clear from an early stage that Donal Lenihan wasn't looking beyond CJ for Man of the Match, such was his infatuation with the man's power in the early stages.
Stander made 23 carries for a distance of 40m and he amassed the third-highest tackle count on the team at 11.
Scaling the wall
The flimsiest defensive wall since that bodger Hadrian had a go back 2000 years ago, Stander nonetheless showed great imagination to leap over it as Ireland made their forward dominance count against the Scots in the final Six Nations game.
Effortless hand-off
"CJ Stander has been the stand-out player in this half" was the commentary cliche of the 2016 Six Nations. Lenihan was forced to utter it once more half an hour into the Scotland match.
His absent-minded hand off of John Hardie was especially striking. Hardie was flung backwards by what seemed like the most casual of hand-offs.
His determination to beat England
Unfortunately, no one beat England in this year's Six Nations. However, Stander's comments in the lead-up to the game established him as someone perfectly in tune with the Irish psyche when it comes to games at Twickers.
I aware of it. I am South African, not Irish, but it is the same thing for South Africans.
We have a thing about England. It doesn’t matter what you play or what you do, you just want to play against them so it is good to slot in with the boys. It is something for Irish people against English teams and it is good to get that feeling from the boys.
The boys are ready for this match and that there is something different in this game.
Later he discussed his granddad's attitude to CJ's international prospects. His grandfather only hoped to see him play international rugby. He only had one stipulation.
I was about 12, and he didn't say he wanted to see me play for the Springboks, he said "I want to see you play international rugby" and I didn't really know what he meant at that stage.
But yeah, it worked out, I got a contract from Munster and the first guy I told was my grandad, and he said "As long as you don't go to England I'm happy."
So playing in front of him will be great, he always gives me a call after matches for advice, before matches sometimes. That's a big drive for me, to play in front of family, they couldn't make it to the Six Nations because I wasn't sure if I was going to start.
Desire
Many Irish supporters were moved by Stander's transparent passion for the Irish jersey. His teammates were also moved. Keith Earls told the Sun that Stander was in tears in the huddle before the Scotland game.
You’d swear he was born and raised in Limerick now, he loves the place and he’s really passionate about Munster and extremely passionate about playing for Ireland.
He was in tears in the huddle and that motivates you to show what it means — when you see the reaction for another man to come in from another country to put on our jersey.
He’s just a passionate man, he puts himself on the line 100 per cent, no matter what he’s going to do.
He’s delighted with the way Irish people have taken to him and he wants to repay them.
