Stander went to school in Queenstown, where he earned a few call-ups to the youth sides of the Border Bulldogs.
At primary school level, he was selected for the Border side that played at the 2007 Under-13 Craven Week competition.
He was also eligible to play at the 2012 Craven Week, but was not picked as he had agreed to join the Pretoria-based Blue Bulls[2] and fell foul of a newly-adopted Border Rugby Football Union policy of not picking players for their Craven Week squad that already signed contracts with other unions.
[10] Stander was included in the Blue Bulls' Currie Cup side for the 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division and was named on the bench for their Round Three clash against the Eastern Province Kings in Pretoria.
[11] He did not make an appearance in that match, but was promoted to the starting line-up the following week for their match against Western Province after Tony Jantjies and Jacques-Louis Potgieter were ruled out due to injury and illness.