VIDEO: 'The one thing you don't know about Damian de Allende'

SPOTLIGHT: Tony Brown wants to change the way fans view Damian de Allende on the playing field.

The inside centre is primarily known as a midfielder who loves taking the ball into contact with his big frame to get his side over the advantage line.

However, there is much more to the big man and some of it was evident on attack in his team’s 27-20 victory over Ireland last weekend.

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He has also formed a formidable midfield combination with Jesse Kriel, who starred in that win.

That Test at Loftus was a significant one for the pairing as they equalled the record for Tests (29) as a centre combination with Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie.

De Allende and Kriel are set to officially break that record in Durban on Saturday.

In his short time working with the Boks so far, Brown believes De Allende tops the charts in one specific category.

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“Damian is just such a physical guy in the contact. He can offload and he can get a lot of momentum.”

Brown then added: “One thing you don’t know about Damian de Allende is that he is the best passer in the Springbok team.

“I want to unlock all that skill and ability and push them [De Allende and Kriel] to become even better than they are.”

De Allende passed the ball 12 times in that first Test.

“Both are world-class players, and I did hear a stat that they are the most experienced midfield combination, so that is pretty amazing for them,” said Brown.

“I always want to push the players a lot around what they can achieve on attack and I know Jesse works so hard off the field and he wants to get better in every part of the game.

“He is working so hard to make his attack better and we saw a lot of examples of him being a dominant attacking force, whether he is attacking the ball or moving the ball with his passing game.”

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