Springboks: Damian de Allende wary of ‘agile and explosive’ Joseph Suaalii who reminds him of Wallabies legend
Springboks centre Damian de Allende and Wallabies counterpart Joseph Suaalii.
Springboks star Damian de Allende is relishing his return to action for the world champions against Australia in Cape Town this weekend and is looking forward to his midfield battle with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has recalled De Allende as one of 10 alterations to his starting line-up for the eagerly anticipated Rugby Championship rematch.
The experienced centre was last in action for the Boks in their 55-10 victory over Georgia in Nelspruit in July and missed their 38-22 defeat to the Wallabies in Johannesburg due to a niggling injury.
However, he has now been ruled fit and is eager to get stuck in against the Wallabies, who launched a stunning fightback last weekend after trailing the Boks 22-0 midway through the opening half.
Momentous Wallabies victory
That result was a momentous one for Australia as it was their first win against the Boks in South Africa in 12 years and their first victory at Ellis Park since 1963.
Former rugby league star Suaalli was one of the Wallabies stars in that clash, and he scored one of their tries after intercepting a pass from Manie Libbok.
De Allende revealed that he has been following Suaalii’s career since his stint in the NRL with the Sydney Roosters.
“I think he is very agile and explosive,” De Allende told reporters in Cape Town. “He gets up in the air very easily and very high. I think we handled that quite well last week.
“I’ve watched him a bit in rugby league. He was enjoyable to watch.
“And like he did on the weekend, he did very well to keep the ball alive, especially in contact.”
De Allende is wary of Suaalli’s offloading skills and believes the Boks will have to work as a collective to counter a player of his calibre.
The 33-year-old revealed that the rookie outside centre reminds him of another code hopper, legendary Wallabies full-back Israel Folau.
‘It has been cool to watch’
“Because he does have, not big arms but long arms, and he can get the ball out quite easily. It has been cool to watch,” added De Allende.
“It almost reminds me of watching Israel Folau.
“He just brings that different dynamic to the Australian team. We handled him quite well last week.
“There were just one or two soft moments when he got the ball away. The intercept was pretty special.”
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