Damian de Allende

Damian de Allende (born 25 November 1991) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Irish province Munster in the Pro14. His usual position is either centre or wing, He was one of the member of the winning Springboks in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Damian de Allende

Date of birth	(1991-11-25) 25 November 1991
Place of birth	Cape Town, South Africa
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 ^1⁄2 in)[1]
Weight	101 kg (15.9 st; 223 lb)[1]
School	Milnerton High School
University	University of Cape Town
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre, Wing Current team Munster Rugby Youth career 2010–2012 Western Province Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2012 UCT Ikey Tigers 6 (5) Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2012–2018 Western Province 27 (30) 2013–2019 Stormers 91 (75) 2015–2017 Kintetsu Liners 4 (5) 2019–2020 Panasonic Wild Knights () 2020– Munster 0 (0) Correct as of 7 July 2019 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2014–present South Africa 47 (30) 2015 Springboks [lower-alpha 1] 1 (10) Correct as of 3 November 2019

Career

Club rugby

He made his first team debut for Western Province during the 2012 Vodacom Cup, in their game against Pampas XV.[4] He made a total of three appearances in that campaign, scoring one try. He was then also included in the squad for the 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division.

In August 2013, he signed a two-year contract that kept him at Western Province and the Stormers until 2015.[5] He further extended his contract with the Stormers in July 2017 which saw him remain until the end of the 2019 season.[6] De Allende represented the Ikey Tigers in the 2012 Varsity Cup.[1]

After the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where de Allende was a member of the victorious South African team, he joined Japanese Top League side Panasonic Wild Knights. De Allende joined Irish Pro14 side Munster, whose head coach is former Springboks forwards coach Johann van Graan. Though de Allende's two-year contract didn't officially commence until 1 July 2020, he arrived in Ireland in May 2020 after the cancellation of the remainder of the 2019–20 Top League and completed two weeks of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7][8]

Representative rugby

In May 2014, De Allende was one of eight uncapped players that were called up to a Springbok training camp prior to the 2014 mid-year rugby union tests.[9] He was subsequently named in the final squad,[10] but suffered a medial knee ligament injury and had to withdraw from the squad.[11]

However, he was once again selected in the Springboks' next squad for the 2014 Rugby Championship[12] and was named in the starting line-up for their opening match of this competition against Argentina in Pretoria.[13]

In 2015, he was selected in the starting XV of a South African side against the World XV for a game held on 11 July 2015.[14] He scored two tries in the game earning praise from the World XV and former Australian coach Robbie Deans who commented that "Damian has been playing remarkable rugby the whole year and he keeps doing the right things. He can add a new dimension to the Boks."[15]

Having only been on the field for 13 minutes, De Allende was controversially red-carded in the 75th minute against New Zealand on 8 October 2017 by referee Jerome Garces for a late hit on first-five Lima Sopoaga, intending to charge down Sopoaga's intended drop goal. De Allende was not suspended, as SANZAAR stated he should not have received red for the attempted charge down. The final score of the match was New Zealand 25–24 South Africa.

De Allende was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.[16] South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating England in the final.[17]

Springbok statistics

Test match record

Against	Pld	W	D	L	Tri	Con	Pen	DG	Pts	%Won
Argentina	9	7	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	77.78
Australia	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
England	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ireland	3	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	66.67
Italy	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	5
New Zealand	5	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	100
United States	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	100
Wales	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	50
Total	25	13	0	12	3	0	0	0	15	52

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Con = Conversions, Pen = Penalties, DG = Drop Goals, Pts = Points Scored

Super Rugby statistics

As of 21 June 2015

Season	Team	Games	Starts	Sub	Mins	Tries	Cons	Pens	Drops	Points	Yel	Red
2013	Stormers	14	8	6	737	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2014	Stormers	14	14	0	1109	4	0	0	0	20	0	0
2015	Stormers	16	16	0	1171	4	0	0	0	20	0	0
Total		44	38	6	3017	8	0	0	0	40	0	0

Notes

1. In addition to playing in test matches, De Allende featured in a match against a World XV in Cape Town in July 2015.[2] This match has an equivalent status to international tour matches, but was played on home soil.[3]

References

1. "SA Rugby Player Profile – Damian de Allende". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
2. South African Rugby Annual 2016. South African Rugby Union. 2016. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-620-69290-8.
3. South African Rugby Annual 2018. South African Rugby Union. 2018. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-0-620-78461-0.
4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 20-16 Pampas XV". South African Rugby Union. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
5. "WP behou 'monster'; Force soek nóg jonges". Media24 (in Afrikaans). 15 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
6. "Bok Trio Commit oo WP Rugby Until 2019". The Stormers. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
7. "Munster Sign De Allende, Gallagher And Snyman". Munster Rugby. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
8. "De Allende completes isolation while Munster expect Snyman to arrive this month". The42. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
9. "Springbok training squad for Durban camp named". South African Rugby Union. 19 May 2014. [{{{archiveurl}}} Archived] Check |archiveurl= value (help) from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
10. "Seven uncapped players in Springbok squad" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
11. "Springboks suffer De Allende injury setback" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
12. "De Villiers back to lead Boks in Rugby Champs" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
13. "De Allende to make Springbok debut". South African Rugby Union. 13 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
14. "Boks cruise past World XV". News24. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
15. "Deans heaps praise on De Allende". News24. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
16. "South Africa World Cup squad: Siya Kolisi wins fitness battle, Eben Etzebeth backed, Aphiwe Dyantyi dropped". Independent. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
17. "England 12-32 South Africa: Springboks win World Cup for record-equalling third time". BBC. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

External links

• Damian de Allende at Springboks.rugby
• itsrugby.co.uk profile