Damian de Allende (born 25 November 1991) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Japanese club

Saitama Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...

. His usual position is either

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. He was a member of the Springboks team that won a record-equalling third

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Club career

He made his first team debut for Western Province during the 2012 Vodacom Cup, in their game against . 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 The 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 74th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 11 August to 27 October 2012. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the ...

. In August 2013, he signed a two-year contract that kept him at and the until 2015. He further extended his contract with the Stormers in July 2017 which saw him remain until the end of the 2019 season. De Allende represented the

Ikey Tigers The Ikey Tigers are a South African rugby union team from the University of Cape Town in the Western Cape who compete in the FNB Varsity Cup. History The "Ikey" nickname originated in the 1910s as an anti-semitic epithet applied to UCT stude ...

in the 2012 Varsity Cup. After the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

, where de Allende was a member of the victorious South African team, he joined Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

side

. De Allende joined Irish

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

side

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

, whose head coach was former Springboks forwards coach

Johann van Graan Johann Christoffel van Graan (born 18 March 1980) is a South African rugby union coach, currently the head coach for Bath. Coaching career Van Graan did not have any top level playing career. With family background in rugby, he showed very s ...

. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. De Allende made his debut for Munster in their 27–25 defeat against

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

on 22 August 2020, and scored his first try for the province in their 52–3 win against Italian side

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

in round 8 of the 2020–21 Pro14 on 30 November 2020. He made his Champions Cup debut for the province in their opening fixture of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

competition against English side Harlequins on 13 December 2020, starting in Munster's 21–7 home win. De Allende was named in the 2020–21 Pro14 Dream Team in his first season with Munster. De Allende left Munster at the end of the 2021–22 season,. and returned to Japan to rejoin

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

, for whom de Allende had previously played for during 2019–20.

International career

In May 2014, De Allende was one of eight uncapped players that were called up to a

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm v ...

training camp prior to the

2014 mid-year rugby union tests The 2014 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) were international rugby union matches mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the June international window. These matches ...

. He was subsequently named in the final squad, but suffered a medial knee ligament injury and had to withdraw from the squad. However, he was once again selected in the Springboks' next squad for the

2014 Rugby Championship The 2014 Rugby Championship was the third edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship consisting of Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The tournament was won by New Zealand, with South Africa second, Aus ...

and was named in the starting line-up for their opening match of this competition against in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. 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. He scored two tries in the game, earning praise from the World XV and former Australia coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans had ...

, 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". Having only been on the field for 13 minutes, De Allende was controversially red-carded in the 75th minute of New Zealand's 25–24 win against South Africa on 8 October 2017 for a late hit on first-five

Lima Sopoaga Lima Sopoaga (born 3 February 1991) is a professional rugby union player who plays for Lyon in the Top 14 competition. His regular playing positions are Fly-Half and Centre. Early life Sopoaga was born in Wellington, New Zealand. His family co ...

, intending to charge down Sopoaga's attempted drop goal. De Allende was not suspended, as

SANZAAR SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs from ...

stated he should not have received red for the attempted charge down. De Allende was named in South Africa's squad for the

. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. De Allende started in all three tests for South Africa during the

2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa The 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour that took place in South Africa in July and August 2021. The British & Irish Lions, a team selected from players eligible to represent England, Ireland, Scot ...

, earning his 50th cap for the Springboks during their third test victory that sealed a series win for the home team, and garnering widespread praise for his performances during the series.

Statistics

Super Rugby statistics

Springboks test match record

Correct as of 26 November 2022Damian de Allende
''ESPN Scrum'', 31 July 2021

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:de Allende, Damian Living people 1991 births White South African people Rugby union players from Cape Town South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Stormers players South African people of Spanish descent Western Province (rugby union) players Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Saitama Wild Knights players Munster Rugby players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Rugby union wings Rugby union centres