De Allende excited to showcase RGR to US audience

Springbok centre Damian de Allende, who recently earned the significant career milestone of playing in his 100th Test match, said playing against the All Blacks has been tough but a massive honour for the Boks and they can’t wait to run out in front of a new crowd this weekend.

The two teams square off in the final match of the Castle Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in Baltimore in the USA on Saturday, and De Allende hoped that the clash would expose the local crowd to a fantastic festival of rugby.

The Springboks will enter the match with the hope of lifting the trophy should they win or draw the clash at the M&T Bank Stadium after taking a two-one lead in the series last week, however a defeat would see the teams draw the series, making it a vital clash for both sides.

De Allende said that although every Test so far has been very tough, playing in RGR has been “an incredible experience”.

“It is brutal but it’s also a massive privilege to face the All Blacks four weeks in a row,” he said. “It’s been great for all of us. It’s hard but it’s a huge honour.”

Asked what he made of facing the All Black centres, De Allende said: “You play against world-class centres every week, no matter who you face, and it has been a real challenge.

“Obviously it’s sad to hear about Quinn Tupaea’s injury and I wish him a speedy recovery.

“I’ve been lucky to play a lot of rugby and face many of fantastic All Black centres. Early in my career I got to play against Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Sonny-Bill Williams and also South African players like Frans Steyn, Andre Esterhuizen and Jan Serfontein.

“But at the moment, the one player who really stands out for me is Jordie Barrett. His skill set is incredible. He has the ability to do everything on the field and playing against him these past three weeks has been a real pleasure.

“I always like to learn a lot from my opposition on the field and I feel like I’ve learned a great deal from Jordie.”

De Allende, who will line up next to his good friend and fellow centre Jesse Kriel in the midfield again this weekend, looked forward to the clash and showing the American audience what top class international rugby has to offer this weekend, as the USA looks forward to hosting the 2031 Rugby World Cup.

“I hope they will come watch the rivalry between the Boks and New Zealand – for us it’s very special,” said De Allende.

“In America they don’t know the sport as well as we do but the best way to sell it is to have them come to the stadium, enjoy the experience and see the top two teams in the world play.

“That’s the best product they can witness in America right now, and hopefully there will be as many South Africans as possible there but also a lot of American supporters.”

The team enjoyed an off-day on Thursday to recover from the last three weeks of intense rugby and to tune their minds into Saturday’s encounter. The match kicks off at 5pm local time (11pm SAST) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

Springbok starting XV: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker; 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg; 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt); 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth; 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.