De Allende pleased by Stormers attitude

Editor

Stormers centre Damian de Allende credited the performances of his team-mates for making his comeback from injury easier last Friday.

The Springbok midfielder played his first Super Rugby minutes of the year against the Sunwolves since recovering from an ankle injury which ruled him out for four months.

A strong first half meant there was a cushion on the scoreboard by the time De Allende came on as a replacement.

“Credit to the guys that have been playing – I think that has made it easier for me as well because they have been putting up good performances so there wasn’t any pressure for me to come back," De Allende told the Stormers website.

“It was nice to get 35 minutes against the Sunwolves, but it was also nice to see how well the guys played in the first half.

"If they didn’t play well then it would have been a bit scary for me to come back for my first game to play for 35 minutes under pressure, it was nice to come on and have a bit more freedom on the field."

De Allende, 24, also paid tribute to the atmosphere around the squad and added that his familiarity with the team had helped to make his return be as smooth as possible.

“It is a very relaxed set-up off the field, so everyone gets treated the same way, there are no egos or arrogant people here," De Allende added.

“It is nice to come here because every day we want to get better as individuals and as a team, and you you know that no-one is leaving it short.

“So you know that every day everyone is coming in and giving 100 percent and playing for each other and trying to help each other as well.

“I have been lucky enough to be here since 2013, so I know a lot of the guys quite well and it is quite easy for me to come back from injury and filter in quite nicely."