SA born CJ Stander makes British & Irish Lions cut for toughest ever tour

Flank CJ Stander became only the third South African born player to be included in a British & Irish Lions touring squad in the professional era after being named in the 41-man party to New Zealand on Wednesday.

Wales’ Sam Warburton was named as the Lions skipper for a second time‚ after leading the team in Australia in 2013.

The Lions won that series 2-1.

There are 16 players from England‚ 12 from Wales‚ 11 from Ireland and only two from Scotland.

Stander plays for Ireland and joins a small group of players raised outside of the four home unions to make the Lions squad.

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Former England World Cup winner Mike Catt and England prop Matt Stevens were the other SA born Lions of the modern era.

Catt was a replacement on the 1997 tour to South Africa and was named in the 2001 squad for Australia but missed the tour through injury. Stevens toured NZ in 2005 and Australia in 2013.

Stander‚ who attended Oakdale High School‚ was a schoolboy and junior star‚ but left SA when his Test aspirations appeared to stall after Heyneke Meyer was made Bok coach in 2012.

Stander joined Irish province Munster in late 2012 and was an instant hit.

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He has been a revelation since making his Test debut for Ireland in 2016 after qualifying through residency in October 2015.

Stander was a junior discus champion and captained SA under-20 at the 2010 Junior World Championships where they finished third.

He was deemed too small to make in SA as a Test flank‚ but since his move to Ireland the 1.85m tall back rower has bulked up to a massive 120kg where his ball carrying has been impressive.

Lions coach Warren Gatland will be looking to Stander to give his side front foot ball as they face one of the most daunting touring schedules in history.

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The Lions will play three Tests against the All Blacks and face all five NZ Super Rugby franchises as well as the NZ Maori (an unofficial fourth Test).

Warburton revealed he got the call from Gatland while at a supermarket: “I found out last Thursday‚” Warburton said.

“I was in a supermarket car park – my wife was getting bread and milk and I didn’t want to go in because the girl on the checkout loves rugby – and I hung up on Gats first time round.

"I thought it was one of the [Cardiff] Blues messing around.”

A match-up against the reigning World Champions in New Zealand‚ coupled with a string of tough midweek matches makes this the toughest Lions tour of all time.

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The current All Blacks are considered the greatest Test team of any era and they have the stats to back it up.

Two of the three Tests will be played at Eden Park in Auckland‚ where the All Blacks last lost a Test in 1994.

Since that 23-20 defeat against France‚ they have played 37 Tests at the venue‚ winning 36 and drawing once – against the Boks in 1994.

The All Blacks have racked up 36 consecutive wins in Auckland.

But since winning the 2011 World Cup on home soil‚ which ended a 24 year wait for the title‚ the All Blacks have only lost four of 68 Tests – none at home.

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They have won 45 consecutive home Tests since losing to the Springboks in Hamilton in 2009.

Their most recent defeat was against Ireland in Chicago last November.

In that time they’ve had a streak of 22 unbeaten Tests between June 2013 and October 2014‚ and another 17 match winning streak between August 2015 and November 2016.

History also doesn’t favour the Lions in NZ. In 38 Tests played in NZ‚ the Lions have only won six‚ with the All Blacks winning 29 with three draws.

This is the 12th British & Irish Lions tour to NZ and only once in the previous 11 – 1971 – have the Lions won the series.

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British & Irish Lions squad:

Backs:

Dan Biggar (Wales)‚ Elliot Daly (England)‚ Jonathan Davies (Wales)‚ Owen Farrell (England)‚ Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)‚ Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)‚ Stuart Hogg (Scotland)‚ Jonathan Joseph (England)‚ Conor Murray (Ireland)‚ George North (Wales)‚ Jack Nowell (England)‚ Jared Payne (Ireland)‚ Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)‚ Tommy Seymour (Scotland)‚ Ben T’eo (England)‚ Anthony Watson (England)‚ Rhys Webb (Wales)‚ Liam Williams (Wales)‚ Ben Youngs (England)

Forwards:

Rory Best (Ireland)‚ Dan Cole (England)‚ Taulupe Faletau (Wales)‚ Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)‚ Jamie George (England)‚ Iain Henderson (Ireland)‚ Maro Itoje (England)‚ Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)‚ George Kruis (England)‚ Courtney Lawes (England)‚ Joe Marler (England)‚ Jack McGrath (Ireland)‚ Ross Moriarty (Wales)‚ Sean O’Brien (Ireland)‚ Peter O’Mahony (Ireland)‚ Ken Owens (Wales)‚ Kyle Sinckler (England)‚ CJ Stander (Ireland)‚ Justin Tipuric (Wales)‚ Mako Vunipola (England)‚ Billy Vunipola (England)‚ Sam Warburton (Wales‚ capt).

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport