Damian de Allende (born 25 November 1991) is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. His usual position is either

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. He was a member of the Springboks team that won a third

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and again that won a fourth Rugby World Cup in 2023. De Allende is a part of a few elite players to have won two world cup titles.

Club career

Damian Allende made his first team debut for Western Province during the

2012 Vodacom Cup The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Division ...

, in their game against . He made a total of three appearances in that campaign, scoring one try. He was then also included in the squad for the

2012 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 74th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 11 August to 27 October 2012. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is ...

. In August 2013, he signed a two-year contract that kept him at and the until 2015. He further extended his contract with the Stormers in July 2017 which saw him remain until the end of the 2019 season. De Allende represented the Ikey Tigers in the 2012 Varsity Cup. After the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

, where de Allende was a member of the victorious South African team, he joined Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by ...

side Saitama Wild Knights. De Allende joined Irish

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

side

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, whose head coach was former Springboks forwards coach Johann van Graan. Though de Allende's two-year contract didn't officially commence until 1 July 2020, he arrived in Ireland in May 2020 after the cancellation of the remainder of the 2019–20 Top League and completed two weeks of isolation due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. De Allende made his debut for Munster in their 27–25 defeat against

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

on 22 August 2020, and scored his first try for the province in their 52–3 win against Italian side

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

in round 8 of the

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''P ...

on 30 November 2020. He made his Champions Cup debut for the province in their opening fixture of the 2020–21 competition against English side Harlequins on 13 December 2020, starting in Munster's 21–7 home win. De Allende was named in the 2020–21 Pro14 Dream Team in his first season with Munster. De Allende left Munster at the end of the 2021–22 season,. and returned to Japan to rejoin League One club Saitama Wild Knights, for whom de Allende had previously played for during 2019–20.

International career

In May 2014, De Allende was one of eight uncapped players that were called up to a

Springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...

training camp prior to the 2014 mid-year rugby union tests. He was subsequently named in the final squad, but suffered a medial knee ligament injury and had to withdraw from the squad. However, he was once again selected in the Springboks' next squad for the

2014 Rugby Championship The 2014 Rugby Championship was the third edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship consisting of Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, S ...

and was named in the starting line-up for their opening match of this competition against in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. In 2015, he was selected in the starting XV of a South African side against the World XV for a game held on 11 July 2015. He scored two tries in the game, earning praise from the World XV and former Australia coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans prev ...

, who commented that "Damian has been playing remarkable rugby the whole year and he keeps doing the right things. He can add a new dimension to the Boks". Having only been on the field for 13 minutes, De Allende was controversially red-carded in the 75th minute of New Zealand's 25–24 win against South Africa on 8 October 2017 for a late hit on first-five

Lima Sopoaga Lima Zachariah Sopoaga (born 3 February 1991) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Japan Rugby League One club Shimizu Blue Sharks. Born in New Zealand, he represents Samoa at international level after qualifying o ...

, intending to charge down Sopoaga's attempted drop goal. De Allende was not suspended, as

SANZAAR SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs fr ...

stated he should not have received red for the attempted charge down. De Allende was named in South Africa's squad for the

. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. De Allende started in all three tests for South Africa during the

2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa The 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour that took place in South Africa in July and August 2021. The British & Irish Lions, a team selected from players eligible to represent England national rugb ...

, earning his 50th cap for the Springboks during their third test victory that sealed a series win for the home team, and garnering widespread praise for his performances during the series.

Statistics

Super Rugby statistics

Springboks test match record

Correct as of 25 May 2025Damian de Allende
''ESPN Scrum'', 31 July 2021

International tries

Notes

References

External links

Damian de Allende
at

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:de Allende, Damian Living people 1991 births White South African people Rugby union players from Cape Town South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Stormers players South African people of Spanish descent Western Province (rugby union) players Hanazono Kintetsu Liners players Saitama Wild Knights players Munster Rugby players South African expatriate rugby union players in Japan 21st-century South African sportsmen Rugby union wings Rugby union centres 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players Ikey Tigers players