Who is Damian de Allende: Ten things you should know about the South Africa centre

Damian de Allende is one of the best defensive centres in the world, but he also showed his attacking strength by dragging three Welsh defenders over the line to score the crucial try in the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final. He went on to start the final and produced a virtuoso performance alongside centre partner Lukhanyo Am as England failed to score a try.

The long-time Stormer is now playing for Irish province Munster – here are ten more facts about him.

Ten things you should know about Damian de Allende

1. Damian de Allende was born on 25 November 1991 in Cape Town and went to school in Milnerton, in the city’s northern suburbs.

2. Having first featured at professional level for Western Province, he made 91 appearances for Cape Town side the Stormers between 2013 and 2019.

3. De Allende made his international debut for South Africa in the opening game of the 2014 Rugby Championship, starting at outside-centre against Argentina in a 13-6 win.

4. His first try for the Springboks came against the USA at RWC 2015, in the same match that team-mate Bryan Habana tied Jonah Lomu’s World Cup-record 15 tries.

Damian de Allende on debut in the Pretoria rain (Getty Images)

5. He made more runs (65) than any other Springbok at RWC 2019 and was fourth on the overall list behind Beauden Barrett, CJ Stander and Billy Vunipola.

6. After winning the 2019 World Cup, de Allende signed for the Panasonic Wild Knights on a short-term deal. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, he was forced to isolate in Tokyo with Springbok team-mate Malcolm Marx.

7. He joined Munster in the summer of 2020. He played three matches as the 2019-20 season resumed following the Covid-enforced shutdown and then became a regular in the 2020-21 campaign in which Munster reached the final.

8. He was named in the Pro14 ‘Dream Team’ after his very first full season playing for Munster.

9. De Allende is a massive Liverpool fan and has spoken of his desire to cross the Irish Sea to watch matches.

10. He was one of several Munster players who required treatment for burns in a fire pit accident in June 2021.

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