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De Allende: Rugby has changed 'immensely' since 2015
It’s only been four years, but Damien de Allende says rugby has changed immensely since the 2015 edition of the Rugby World Cup.
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De Allende was speaking at a media conference at the Nadahama Sports Ground in Kobe.
Comments from the South Africa inside-centre shed light on the on-field changes – at least how de Allende sees them.
“Not just me or South Africa, but the whole of world rugby has improved immensely,” said de Allende. “Sometimes Handre (Pollard) and myself watch old World Cup games from 2015, and back then there was absolutely no line speed on defence. And the skillset wasn’t under pressure or anything like that.
“We’ve all developed in that sense, where we can play under kind of pressure – where guys are in your face and making decisions under pressure.
“The game has gone a bit more structured as well. I think that’s where you’ve got to learn and accept that you are not going to get a lot more turnovers, and there are going to be a lot more kicks on you.
“So, it’s a lot more structured attack, and that’s where we have developed.”
“We all have the licence to express ourselves on the field, but sometimes it’s quite tough – with the line-speed and the way teams have developed now with their skillsets under pressure.
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'I go into schools a lot and those kids need to be able to look up and identify with it. Rugby union has sort of a middle class (appeal)'
– @LandRoverRugby ambassador @Jason15Robinson on @EnglandRugby, @rugbyworldcup and finding the next generationhttps://t.co/b8pYYQF1er— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 12, 2019
“Sometimes it’s quite tough to make a 50-50 pass, because you know that if that pass doesn’t stick, you will probably concede seven, five or three points.
“You want to take a few risks now and then, if you really have to. If the opportunity is there and you feel like you can do it, then do it.
“But I would say if you are in two minds and there’s a bit of doubt, then rather tuck it and try to play one or more phases, and see if you can break the defence and get over the advantage line.”
The Stormers centre was quizzed on how being in the 2019 quarter-finals is different to reaching the 2015 semi-finals.
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What Jack Lam has sacrificed to represent Samoa at the World Cup should shame World Rugby and their watery regulations https://t.co/mePg3fIhXS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 11, 2019
“It was a bit similar. The only thing we did differently in the 2015 World Cup is that we managed to get two points from losing the first game, and knew if we could win the other pool matches, we would qualify from the pool stage.
“This time, we were under a lot more pressure – and I don’t mean that in a negative way. We knew we had to win at least three of our games with a bonus point, and that is where the pressure came on us a bit.
“Luckily we exceeded those expectations. Our best game yet has been against Italy. Although we were under a lot of pressure, to get the bonus-point try and keep them tryless was really massive, because they played good rugby against Namibia and Canada.”
Dallen Stanford is a South African born former seven’s player turned broadcaster. RugbyPass caught up with him in Japan to discuss his journey and his predictions for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Comments on RugbyPass
Who's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
72 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
32 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
32 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
72 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
32 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
4 Go to comments