Small can be beautiful – burly centre Damian
Mini-backs ‘might have speed or better feet, and are able to adapt’
DAMIAN DE ALLENDE is convinced that the Stormers are capable of winning the Super Rugby title despite having the smallest backline in the competition. “I don’t think size really matters in this sport, as long as you have a lot of heart and guts and you go all out and don’t hold back,” said the 105kg Stormers inside centre, who has emerged as South Africa’s standout back after five rounds of action. “I think that we proved in the first four games that we can (win with a small backline).”
Fullback Cheslin Kolbe, the sub-80kg poster-boy for mini-backs, played a feature role as the Stormers began their campaign by beating the Bulls, Blues, Lions and Sharks in quick succession.
“We don’t feel threatened when we come up against a big backline because small guys often have different strengths; they might be quicker or have better feet,” added De Allende. “When we play bigger backlines we adapt to the situation and that shows the class of the small guys that we have.
“A guy like Cheslin is a perfect example – he’s not scared to take contact or to take players on, he kicks very well and he’s good under the high ball.”
Unfortunately, science has no appreciation for courage. Kolbe’s fearlessness, though inspiring, counted for nothing when a physical confrontation with a bigger opponent was unavoidable. The same applied to Stormers flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis (85kg), who tried in vain to stop All Blacks flanker Sam Cane (100kg) from scoring in the corner.
Yet, De Allende believes that inferior tactics and poor execution, rather than diminutive personnel, resulted in defeat.
“The biggest lesson we can take out of that game is to play more rugby against Kiwi sides,” he said. “We did kick quite a bit in the second half and if you do that and you don’t kick great, they can punish you for it. They put numbers back and we still kicked on them; you have to hold on to the ball.”
James Lowe capped off a sweeping counter-attack from one particularly sloppy Stormers kick early in the second half. De Allende was impressed.
“We can take a lot from how the Chiefs played in the second half, they scored some brilliant tries,” he said.
“It’s always nice to play against a team that scores tries like that – on the field you get a bit shocked and you’re thinking ‘How did that just happen?’
“The result was obviously disappointing, no one enjoys a loss, but we can take positives out of the first half.
“The guys are still very positive and they’re excited because we want to keep ball in hand and run at opponents. It’s very difficult to kick on Kiwi sides and then defend for 10 phases because they’ve got such skilful backs and their forwards also distribute the ball very well.”
The Stormers starting scrum has been dominant to date and De Allende says his fleet-footed teammates are relishing the resultant opportunities to run at opponents. “The pack helps us a lot, it puts the backs on the front foot and makes it easy for us to strike,” he said. “When you’re going forward, it doesn’t matter how small you are.”