Damian ready for the Sonny Bill test
Stormers centre Damian de Allende has the perfect opportunity to stake a claim for Jean de Villiers' Springbok No.12 jersey.
With De Villiers still no more than a remote outside chance of recovering in time for the World Cup, following his off-season knee surgery, and Frans Steyn no closer to patching things up with the South African Rugby Union, there is an opening at inside centre.
De Allende, who has been one of the form No.12s this season, comes up against arguably the most dynamic inside centre in the world when the Stormers host the Chiefs at Newlands in a Super Rugby crunch encounter on Saturday.
And if De Allende wants to make a statement to Bok coach Heyneke Meyer – about adding to the three Test caps he earned in 2014 – Saturday is the perfect time.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee has no doubt the 23-year-old De Allende has what it takes to fill the gap left by the injured De Villiers.
"What is required of a No.12, he is really doing that and it is very pleasing," Coetzee told a media briefing at the Stormers' training base near Cape Town.
The coach said the secret to De Allende's success is that he keeps things very simple.
"He is direct and physical, and because of that we do get space out wide," Coetzee said, adding: "He is strong on contact and does the off-load – he gets his hands through the tackle.
"He is certainly doing the things expected of a No.12. At the breakdown he is also hard and his defence is solid.
"The big thing for him is to maintain that and bring a level of consistency to his game – the rest [Springbok selection] will take care of itself.
"We all know he has a good skillset, he is a physical player, he has a great pass and he can create width for the team as well."
Coetzee said De Allende is not the kind of player that must be "boxed into" a specific patter.
"You will frustrate him if you box him in, because of his skillset."
Coetzee said his team is not going to focus just on the code-hopping Chiefs midfielder, Williams, because he comes with a huge reputation and has been in sublime form this season.
"Some years ago the same question was asked of the Springboks: 'How do you stop Jonah Lomu?'," Coetzee said, when asked how they plan to stop Williams.
"[The answer is] you have to tackle the guy,"he said, adding: "No-one can run without legs.
"He [Williams] is an unbelievable player, make no mistake about that and he has been unbelievable for the Chiefs. However, it is not just him, he has some special players around him – with Aaron Cruden on his inside and [Charlie] Ngatai on the other centre. Even their wings, they always have exciting backs.
"The way they structure their game they ask a lot of questions. Yes, they do play off Sonny Bill [Williams] often.
"However, for us it is going to be very important to present our system and work hard on our system.
"We mustn't just focus on Sonny Bill, but also the guys running off Sonny Bill."
He felt the Stormers' famed defensive line is equipped to cope with the task at hand.
"Our defensive system has been solid for the last few weeks – we are spot-on with our setting at rucks and accuracy off set pieces."
Coetzee felt the Chiefs will be hurting from their loss to the Highlanders last week and will be determined to put the record straight at Newlands.
"They're a quality team with a quality coach in Dave Rennie and it's not for nothing that they've won this competition twice in the past three years,"he said.
"They have a strong set-piece and boast quality players across the board.
"The challenges seem to be getting bigger in this tournament.
"The Chiefs can generate their own ball through their solid set-piece and, of course, are dangerous in broken play.
"Nothing less than what we have seen [from ourselves] and better will do this week.
They will also be hurting after their loss to the Highlanders this past weekend – they are on this tour to win, nothing less will do for them."
@rugby365com
