De Allende to step and offload for Blitzboks in the City?
STAR Springbok centre Damian de Allende is set to run out for the Blitzboks in the Cape Town leg of the Sevens World Series next month.
The Sevens team, and their Olympic participation, is the top priority of the South African Rugby Union next year. De Allende could be one of a handful of Springboks who will play in various Sevens tournaments in 2016 as coach Neil Powell tries to put together a team for the Rio Olympics next year.
De Allende has had an out- standing year for both the Stormers and the Boks after taking over the No 12 jersey from stalwart Jean de Villiers earlier this year. His stepping, power game and offloading could be some of the ingredients that Powell is looking for.
Other Stormers and Western Province players that may feature for the Blitzboks in the Mother City on December 12 and 13 are speedsters Seabelo Senatla, Cheslin Kolbe and new signing Cornal Hendricks.
Insiders have also revealed that WP captain and centre Juan de Jongh has already been earmarked to play a few tournaments for the Blitzboks next year, so he may miss a few Super Rugby matches for the Stormers.
The same would apply to players like the Lions’ Warren Whiteley and Hendricks, who featured in the South African side that won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland last year.
Iconic Bok wing Bryan Habana and hot-stepping hooker Schalk Brits were also initially included in the Commonwealth Games team, but were both forced to withdraw because of their club commitments in France and England respectively. However, both of them could be contention for next year’s Games in Brazil.
Senatla, who was beaten to the World Sevens Player of the Year award by teammate Werner Kok this week, has played plenty of rugby this year after featuring for the Blitzboks, the Stormers and WP.
But he said before the Currie Cup final that he doesn’t expect to play a lot of Sevens next year, because of the rotational system that will be put in place to keep players fresh and to test combinations ahead of the Olympics.
“The body is holding up okay. I’m getting great management, both from the Sevens and Western Province to make sure I get my recovery right and that I’m 100 percent when game time comes,” Senatla said.
“The body is the body. We all are going to get fatigued at some point and we are all going to be in need of some rest some time.
“Ultimately, I’ll rest in December. I don’t think I will play a lot of Sevens next year, because they are going to have a rotational system because of all the workload.”