The loyalties of CJ Stander were questioned relentlessly throughout his career with Munster and Ireland. They were interrogated and pulled apart, but he held strong, with his performances on the field providing definitive proof of where his allegiances lay.
These loyalties are still being scrutinised, but ahead of Ireland's mammoth World Cup clash with South Africa, Stander has taken these slews of repeated questions with a smile and succinctly explained why his heart will be with Ireland this Saturday.
Speaking to Balls.ie this week, the Mellon Educate ambassador put it plain and simple.
"I know where my origin is. Look, I'm South African and I was born here and I'm back here, but the best part of my life so far was in Limerick and in Ireland, and to have 52 caps and play for a country that adopted me was special and that's something I'll never go against."
22 October 2016; The sons of the late Munster Rugby head coach Anthony Foley, Tony, left, and Dan, join CJ Stander, and the rest of the squad on the field to sing 'Stand Up and Fight' after the European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 1 Round 2 match between Munster and Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park in Limerick. The Shannon club man, with whom he won 5 All Ireland League titles, played 202 times for Munster and was capped for Ireland 62 times, died suddenly in Paris on November 16, 2016 at the age of 42. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
CJ Stander Reminisces Of His Days In Limerick
His love for the country was shaped in Limerick, the place, in his words, where he became a man, and the last five year's of Stander's Munster journey was spent in Castleconnell, a picturesque village, east of the River Shannon and just north of Limerick City.
"We stayed there for the last five years," says Stander as he reminisces fondly of his old home.
We had a property out there and we were like in a cul de sac with 10 homes. And they had this Christmas. It was as an older cul de sac with guys or people who lived there for the last 40 years or 30 years at least.
And they had this Christmas party every year and when we moved into this house they just took us in. We were part of this Christmas party and the lady across the road just started giving us, well I like the mince pies and the chicken pies and she just started doing that weekly.
And I was like, I was picking up a lot of weight, but I couldn't believe that someone pulls you in like that, that quick. And you were just invited to 21st and 50th birthdays.
And I was like, well, and that's just it, that was a special thing that everyone was invited all the time and everyone was welcome. And that's how I felt from day one.
Thankfully for Stander, the hordes of delicious homemade pies were not present in his early days with Munster, when he struggled with his weight and fitness, and was sent to train with an injury-ravaged Paul O'Connell.
He remembers these times fondly, and in terms of a rugby experience for a young forward, it's as special as it gets, training intimately with one of the games greats.
It is also remarkable to hear of these fitness woes, given that Stander, by 2017/18, was known for his relentless work rate, which began in the first minute and didn't end until the full-time whistle.
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17 March 2018; CJ Stander of Ireland scores his side's second try during the NatWest Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The Munster-South Africa connection is as strong as it's ever been.
Stander would have played with and under Felix Jones, and under head coach Jacques Nienaber, while his old teammate and close friend Jean Kleyn is the talk of the town after his call up to the Springboks (RG Snyman and Damian de Allende also strengthen the Munster connection).
But the one everyone wants to talk about is the father of the team, Rassie Erasmus, whose influence at Munster, when he arrived in 2016, was immediate and powerful.
Erasmus also wrote recently of his love for Castleconnell, but he causes much more of a stir with his intriguing rugby tactics, from bizarre social media videos calling out referees, to coaching box light signals and 7-1 bench splits.
Stander rubbishes my suggestion that part of Rassie's plan is to psych out opponents, but he does agree that part of it is done to take media pressure off his players.
"I don't think he's trying to psych out other teams.
"I think, well I can only speak what I see. I think he's trying to do it to see that the game can be used in a way to enjoy it.
"And then I think what you said about taking pressure off the players. I think that's what he's trying to do as well. Almost to take away that when the media and everyone gives him trouble or boosts him or whatever and he's trying to take that away from the players.
"So I think that's probably what he's trying to do. Because working with him, the most important thing for Rassie and Jacques was, with Munster anyway, is that he just wants you to go outside, enjoy yourself and play the best you can and dominate your position player and then get a win.
"So I think he does that to, yeah I think you're right. I think he does that to take away attention from the team and then call straight on what's important on Saturday and then he takes the heat, he can take the heat."
23 August 2017; Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and CJ Stander at the Guinness PRO14 season launch at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Stander is also doing great work with the Mellon Educate charity in South Africa, whose mission is 'to bring literacy to 100,000’s of children across Africa while at the same time providing employment to school leavers in the community'.
"The British & Irish Trading Association asked me to be the ambassador," says Stander.
"And one of these charities is them, and they asked me if I wanted to be involved in this project because I know the lay of the land really and I know that's where you can give a bit of hope back.
"And we sat down and I said, yeah, it's a no brainer. I've always wanted to be part of something like this to just give back. Because I could see day to day and I see how people struggle with the basic necessities, homes.
"But firstly food and those things and we sat down and the goal was to build homes for the less privileged. And their goal is to do 1000 homes and three or four schools.
"I'm jumping in probably at 25% into the whole thing and it's just great to see that people out there do care and people do deliver."
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