De Allende highlights his class
Vodacom Rugby App Review: World XV
After playing a starring role in the Springboks’ 46-10 victory over the World XV at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, there can be little doubt Damian de Allende is a world-class act.
The Springbok inside centre was among a host of standout performers in South Africa’s season opener.
Statistics taken from the Vodacom Rugby App demonstrate how much of an impact these players had on the match.
Joining de Allende as one of the Boks’ protagonists, flanker Marcel van der Merwe also topped some of the categories.
De Allende made nearly double the amount of metres run than his nearest competitors with his 13 Carries.
He ran a total of 152 metres, with South African pivot Handre Pollard the only other Springbok to crack it into the top-10, making 54 metres.
De Allende’s two Clean Breaks were the most by a player on Saturday with 10 players following behind him with one apiece.
Coetzee made one less carry than De Allende to rank second in the category as debutant Jesse Kriel and Bryan Habana made six and seven carries respectively.
Lock Flip van der Merwe may have run out for the World XV but put in a performance that would support his selection for the Springboks.
Van der Merwe made the fourth most running metres along with Craig Burden, David Smith and Steffon Armitage with 68m while he made the fourth most carries with his eight.
Coetzee’s bone-crushing tackle on Jordan Taufua was a prime example of the tireless defensive work he put in on Saturday.
The fiery flanker topped the Tackles category with the 19 he executed, while stalwart Victor Matfield produced an age-defying performance making 16 tackles for a second-placed ranking.
The Bok loose trio were on top of their game defensively with Francois Louw (15 tackles) and eighthman Warren Whiteley (13) also cracking the top five of the tackle stats.
Van der Merwe was also a nuisance on the ground along with the inspirational Schalk Burger with the duo making two turnovers each.
Matfield underpinned why he is still considered one of the world’s best lineout exponents after stealing three of the opposition’s ball along with the one by Whiteley.
Springboks v World XV vital statistics:
Metres Run:
1. Damian de Allende – 152
2. Delon Armitage – 84
3. Jordan Taufua – 76
4. Craig Burden – 68
5. David Smith – 68
6. Flip van der Merwe – 68
7. Steffon Armitage – 68
8. Luke Whitelock – 56
9. Handre Pollard – 54
10. Maxime Mermoz – 54
Carries:
1. Damian de Allende – 13
2. Marcell Coetzee – 12
3. Jordan Taufua – 9
4. Flip van der Merwe – 8
5. Maxime Mermoz – 8
6. Steffon Armitage – 8
7. Jesse Kriel – 7
8. Luke Whitelock – 7
9. Bryan Habana – 6
10. Carl Hayman – 6
Defenders Beaten:
1. Bismarck du Plessis – 2
2. Craig Burden – 2
3. Damian de Allende – 2
4. Delon Armitage – 2
5. Jesse Kriel – 2
Tackles:
1. Marcell Coetzee – 19
2. Victor Matfield – 16
3. Francois Louw – 15
4. Michael Harris – 14
5. Maxime Mermoz – 13
6. Warren Whiteley – 13
Turnovers Won:
1. Jordan Taufua – 2
2. Marcell Coetzee – 2
3. Schalk Burger – 2
4. David Roumieu – 1
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