Asked in Baltimore which centres have tested him hardest, Damian de Allende listed Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Sonny Bill Williams, then went straight past all three.
Damian de Allende, one of the best centres in the world by any reading, has defended against Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Sonny Bill Williams. Asked at the Springboks press conference in Baltimore on Wednesday which of them had been hardest to mark, he named none of them.
“But at the moment the one guy that really does stand up for me is Jordie Barrett. I think his skill set is incredible.”
A 34-year-old with more than 100 caps and two World Cup medals, talking about a man five years younger who has been in his channel for three straight Tests. So has Jordie Barrett actually gone past Nonu, or is that what three weeks of marking the same man does to a centre’s memory? Settle it in the comments before Saturday.
South Africa lead Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry 2-1 and the series is decided at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday. A win or a draw keeps the trophy in South African hands, and only one of the two camps has ruled out a draw.
He listed the greats first. None of them was the answer.
The question was which centres had been most difficult to mark over the years. De Allende started with the men who taught him the job.
“I’ve been lucky to play a lot of rugby and play against a lot of fantastic centres. Like the start of my career I got to play against Ma’a [Nonu] and Conrad Smith and Sonny [Bill] Williams, and also South African players, Frans Steyn and André Esterhuizen and Jan Serfontein.”
He met those three New Zealanders in a single afternoon: the 2015 World Cup semi-final at Twickenham, where De Allende started at inside centre with Jesse Kriel outside him, Nonu and Conrad Smith started opposite, and Sonny Bill Williams came off the bench for Nonu after 52 minutes. New Zealand won it 20-18 and kept the World Cup.
Eleven years later, none of them is the answer.
Read also: what three weeks of this series has already done to Barrett’s body, in his own words.
What Damian de Allende has to solve before the ball arrives
Bryn Hall, the Crusaders halfback from 2017 to 2022, called it a triple threat when he named Barrett the best 12 in the world on Monday: the short pass, the long pass and the kicking game, all launched from the same standing start.
De Allende has to pick one of the three before the ball gets there.
Push up on the pass and the right-footed kick goes over the top. Sit off the kick and Barrett runs the seam. Read the run and the ball is already two men wider.
Against Nonu, a defender knew exactly what was coming and had to stop it anyway, for eighty minutes, and the good ones still did not. Against Barrett he does not know, and he finds out after the ball has left the base.
Barrett does the other half of the job too: 15 tackles and five turnovers at Ellis Park from a man wearing 12, in the only Test New Zealand have won on this tour.
Jim Hamilton, 63 caps as a Scotland lock, went the other way on the same weekend and called De Allende and Kriel the best 12 and 13 in the world at the minute. Two credentialed voices, two hemispheres, and the man who has actually spent three Saturdays a metre from Barrett’s shoulder has just sided with the New Zealander.
Then he said the part senior players usually leave out
“I’ve always liked to learn a lot on the field, especially playing against my opposition, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot from Jordie Barrett on the field.”
Most opponents come round once a season. De Allende has had three cracks at Barrett inside three weeks, with video of every one of them, which is closer to a coaching block than a fixture list. He is 34 and past a hundred caps. Barrett is 29.
The plan for Barrett is written before kick-off
Asked how South Africa keep defending New Zealand’s width, De Allende did not reach for instinct. He reached for the analysts, and for the man who runs the picture.
“On defence it’s the preparation. Like Eben said earlier, it’s the work our coaches do in the background and they give to us. It’s from their analysis. And obviously a guy like Jesse, he runs our… not runs our defence, he’s one of our defence leaders.”
He caught himself mid-phrase there, and the correction is the interesting half: Kriel does not run it, he is one of several who lead it. The Eben beside him is Etzebeth, who had answered the same room minutes earlier and rates Saturday above the two World Cup finals he has won.
Then came a number.
“So sometimes on the field it is instinct, because there’s times on the field where we have to make split-second decisions, and sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong. But I think 90 per cent of the things go into preparation and what we plan for and what we expect to see from the All Blacks.”
Ninety per cent is a high figure for any player to admit to out loud, and it means most of what South Africa do to Barrett on Saturday was decided in an analysis room days ago. Former Springboks head coach Nick Mallett rates De Allende and Kriel above Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie for what they do without the ball: Kriel chasing everything, complaining about nothing.
The first three phases will tell you the plan
De Allende supplied the caveat himself. Dave Rennie names his side on Friday, Barrett’s midfield partner Quinn Tupaea has gone home with a knee injury, and the Springboks centre said plainly that he does not know what New Zealand’s team looks like this weekend.
Asked whether these All Blacks centres had been among the toughest of a 100-plus-cap career, he said they had, then finished the answer on the man who will not be there.
“Every Test match is tough, you play against world class centres, no matter what country you play against. But this has been a helluva challenge… It’s obviously sad to hear about Quinn Tupaea with his injury and I wish him a speedy recovery.”
If Barrett is at 12 again, watch De Allende’s feet the moment the ball reaches him at first receiver. Forward and square, and South Africa have decided to make Barrett carry it and accepted the kick over the top. Heels down and shoulders turned infield, and they have decided he is passing, and are buying a half-second for Kriel outside him. He has to choose before the ball leaves the base, and he has three Tests of tape to choose from.
Read next: Eben Etzebeth Has Two World Cup Medals. He Rates Saturday Higher.
Frequently asked
What did Damian de Allende say about Jordie Barrett?
Speaking at the Springboks press conference in Baltimore on 9 September, De Allende said that “at the moment the one guy that really does stand up for me is Jordie Barrett”, called his skill set incredible, and added that he had learned a lot from Barrett over the three Tests of this series.
Which centres has Damian de Allende faced?
He named Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Sonny Bill Williams from the start of his career, and Frans Steyn, André Esterhuizen and Jan Serfontein among South Africans. He met the three New Zealanders in one match, the 2015 World Cup semi-final at Twickenham.
Who leads the Springboks defence?
De Allende named Jesse Kriel as one of the Springboks’ defence leaders and the man who takes control of it, and said 90 per cent of what South Africa do defensively comes from preparation rather than instinct.
Your turn
This site called Barrett the best 12 in the world on Monday and said the bigger title needs a trophy behind it. The man marking him has now gone further from the other side of the ruck, four days out from the Test that ends the series. So which is it: a senior professional describing exactly how he works, or a Springboks centre handing New Zealand something in the week he should be giving them nothing? Settle it below.
