It was a sour way to end what had been a brilliant night for the former South Africa U20 international, who notched two tries against the Warriors.
Stander made his RaboDirect PRO12 debut against the Scarlets the weekend previously, and Howlett has been impressed by what he has seen so far.
But he eased fears that the Thomond Park outfit would struggle to cope with his loss over a busy festive period.
Howlett told the Irish Times: "We are lucky we do have a lot of depth. In terms of CJ's situation that had played out earlier in the year and is magnified by his hand injury.
"He's added a lot during training and meetings and with Donnacha Ryan and Donncha O'Callaghan there, two experienced players, who also add a lot.
"The pleasing thing is we have a quality player in James Coughlan coming back.
"Peter O'Mahony returns from international duty and Dave O'Callaghan has had some fantastic games for us this year."
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