The South African center recalls bad memories of the past and warns: “It will feel like a war”
De Allende already fired up for South Africa-Ireland: “The Irish media disrespected us, we will take it back” (ph. Sebastiano Pessina)
There is just under a month left until the first of the two matches between South Africa and Ireland, the most anticipated series of the year in which the reigning world champions and the strongest team in Europe who won the second Six Nations in a row will face each other . South Africa-Ireland, however, also recalls important challenges of the past, some of which were not very happy for the Springboks, as Damian de Allende recalled on RugbyPass TV.
In particular, the South African center refers to the sensational 38-3 with which the Irish defeated a South Africa in great crisis in 2017: “We lost against them in 2017, when they beat us 38-3. The way the media talked about us completely disrespected us.”
Read also: South Africa: a major defection for the first summer test against Wales
“For us as a group and for us as Springboks, it’s about regaining respect. Not from them, but from ourselves. We don’t need it but we really want to beat Ireland. It will be an incredible test match” continued De Allende.
The two matches between South Africa and Ireland will be played on 6 June at Loftus in Pretoria and on 13 June at Kings Park in Durban.
Furthermore, South Africa-Ireland will also be South Africa’s first home match after winning the 2023 World Cup. Something that unfortunately the Springboks were unable to do in 2019, when the pandemic prevented playing in South Africa in 2020: “We don’t see It’s time to get back on the pitch in front of our fans. Unfortunately, in 2019 we did not have this pleasure due to the pandemic.”
“The first game against Ireland at Loftus will almost feel like a war, regardless of whether I play or not. Against Ireland the biggest danger is the breakdown, they are very good. It doesn’t matter if they are dominated through contact, they still manage to get the ball out quickly” concluded De Allende.
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