Bok centre De Allende returns to WP

Damian de Allende will have to rediscover his touch with Western Province in the Currie Cup after being released from the Springbok squad.

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Western Province have lost one Springbok centre this week, but will gain another after Damian de Allende was released from the national squad to play Currie Cup rugby this weekend.

Inside centre De Allende, along with Lions hooker Malcolm Marx and Sharks wing Lwazi Mvovo, will return to their provinces on Tuesday morning to give them enough time to familiarise themselves with their local teams as they all play on Friday in the final round of league fixtures that will decide the last two semi-finalists.

Only the table-topping Cheetahs and second-placed Bulls are guaranteed of a place in the last-four, with the Lions and Sharks playing in a virtual eliminator on Friday (5pm kickoff) as the losing team are set to be knocked out by WP, who should beat Boland at Newlands (7.10pm).

Province have fielded a number of different midfield combinations this season, with all of Daniel du Plessis, Johnny Kotze, Huw Jones, EW Viljoen and Juan de Jongh featuring. De Jongh made a huge impact at outside centre for WP in last week’s 52-31 win over Griquas in Kimberley just a few days after arriving from New Zealand, where he had started for the Boks against the All Blacks in Christchurch.

But Bok coach Allister Coetzee decided to retain De Jongh, along with Jesse Kriel and Lionel Mapoe for this weekend’s Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld, with De Allende out of the mix after coming off the bench against the All Blacks. That could see Mapoe back in the match-23 against Australia.

For De Allende, though, the reality is that he needs to produce a convincing performance for WP against Boland if he wants to force his way back into the national reckoning for the final Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks in Durban next Saturday.

The 24-year-old has yet to reach the heights of 2015, where he was one of the best Boks and was voted the SA Super Rugby Player of the Year. He was dynamic with ball-in-hand and had a superb step and passing game, but he has lost his spark since returning from Japanese club rugby with an ankle injury in December.

De Allende has tended to line up too deep on attack and has been caught behind the advantage line for the Boks, while he has also seldom looked to offload or pass to a teammate in space – often barging head-down into a defender.

He is a much better player than that, and perhaps some game time at Currie Cup with WP will see De Allende rediscover his touch.

His arrival at the Bellville training base on Tuesday will also solve a huge dilemma for WP coach John Dobson due to De Jongh’s absence. De Allende is likely to line up at inside centre against Boland, with in-form Scottish international Huw Jones shifting to No 13.

Mvovo has been mainly a back-up wing in the Bok squad, but Marx’s demotion to the Lions will see Bongi Mbonambi back in the match-23 as the reserve hooker behind captain Adriaan Strauss after producing an energetic performance for WP against Griquas last week.

Flyhalf Pat Lambie has also remained with the Bok squad after being assessed by the medical staff following his comeback game for the Sharks last week, and he could play a role in Pretoria on Saturday.

Coetzee will name his team on Thursday.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@ashfakmohamed