Excited.

CJ Stander says it was a massive honour to captain Ireland for the very first time on Saturday evening. The Munster star entered the fold on the hour mark, and was handed the captaincy for his adopted country.

Stander of course has plenty of experience as captain, having led Munster for a full season while Peter O’Mahony recovered from a knee injury following the 2o15 Rugby World Cup.

He says he was excited by the prospect as he came on, and made it his first port of call to discuss his issues at the breakdown with the refereee.

“I was excited,” said Stander

“When you get a call to go on it’s a massive honour.

“I just said to him (the referee), ‘I’m CJ Stander and I’m the captain now’. And I said about the breakdown what I felt was going wrong.

“He said ‘perfect’ and we went on. You just make yourself known so he knows who you are and if he looks for you he knows where to find you.”

Stander played a huge role for the Lions off the bench over the summer, but Saturday was his first sub appearance for Ireland. He says it was a nice change, as you can suss the game out before you get on.

“It’s the first time for Ireland. I enjoyed it. It takes a bit longer for you to get into the game so you can suss out the game and see what’s the flow and what you need to do when you get on.

“Look I will jump in any jersey where it’s needed. If it’s off the bench then If I need to make an impact then that’s my job.”