Boks gird loins for tough clash at Twickenham
De Allende sounds war cry against England
Springboks midfielder Damian de Allende says they are determined to get a win against England tomorrow at Twickenham (7.30pm) after falling short in their past two attempts.
The Boks lost in the visits to the home of rugby in 2018 and last year. Twickenham has somewhat become a bogey place for them and they are keen on changing that. De Allende has been with the national team since 2014, and he has yet to get one over England in Twickenham.
De Allende, who will start in his favoured inside centre position tomorrow, is hoping the Boks can get over the line with a consistent performance.
“Every time we play them, it’s a massive occasion. You can never write them off,” said De Allende to the media in London, England.
“I don’t think I’ve played a game and beaten England here in Twickenham. I have won against other international teams. It would be incredible (to beat England), I mean it’s always a tough encounter. They are also a great team. They have had their ups and downs in the past weeks.
“I think in 2018 we were very close, and last year we were also close. I think this year we can turn things around. Last year we played well in patches, but we were not consistent enough. Hopefully, we’ll be a lot more consistent this weekend on the field,” he said.
England boss Eddie Jones is expecting the Boks to bring the physical game tomorrow. However, De Allende said the team would try to get the ball to speedsters
Kurt-Lee Arendse and Makazole Mapimpi. This is part of the new game plan of moving the ball through the hands.
“This past week against Italy we managed to get the ball there (on the wide channels) quite a bit, which was nice. That was our plan for the weekend.
“If things go well for us this weekend, hopefully we can get the ball to the wider channels. It’s nice to see guys like Kurt Lee and Mapimpi running at full tilt. It’s nice to watch,” he said.