De Allende committed to Munster despite yearning for home
WHENEVER we see Damian de Allende, he is on top of his game.
The centre’s performances suggest he has settled into life in Ireland seamlessly, yet moving country during a pandemic is not an easy process, particularly while being denied the chance to reunite with the Springboks due to the impact of the coronavirus.
The South African’s last trip home was in November 2019; that mad month when he and his team-mates travelled the
Rainbow Nation with the Webb Ellis Cup.
From there, he flew to Tokyo to begin life as a Panasonic Wild Knight. Most of that time was spent in a hotel room, before he made his way to Limerick for the next adventure.
De Allende’s girlfriend is with him, while his mother leaves after a visit today and there is a strong South African community in the Munster dressing room.
Yet he admits that it has been difficult to be away for so long.
“My mum is still here and she’s leaving on Friday. My girlfriend’s mum was here as well. She just left a couple of weeks ago, so that was very nice,” said the 29-year-old. “I would say it’s not the same. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Obviously it’s lovely to see my mum but I think I would have preferred to see her in South Africa with all my family. It has been tough.
“There’s not much we can do about the situation.
“There’s no point getting upset and dwelling over it. It’s sad but there comes a time when you just have to get over it and work through it. I try to talk to my family at home as much as possible but even if I went home, and stayed there for a bit, I’d still miss them as much as I have.
“Hopefully they will be able to come visit us soon or hopefully we’ll be able to go visit them. But, at the moment, I will still miss them but I still have a job to do here in Ireland and I will always commit to that first.”
De Allende’s last game for his country was the World Cup final.
“I do think of it every now andagain,”hesaid.“thebiggest thing for me is that it’s very exciting knowing that I will see them again soon.
“That’s the thing to look forward to. It’s sad that we haven’t seen each other, we haven’t played a Test together for so long, but there’s always something to look forward to.
“Just the thought of seeing them again, spending a few weeks with them and creating new memories. That’s the most exciting thing. Whenever I think of it, it puts a smile on my face.”