Springbok centre Damian de Allende stressed on Wednesday that the team had put their 67-30 victory against Argentina in Durban behind them and said he expected an enormous battle against the Pumas on Saturday when the Castle Lager Rugby Championship concludes at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham at 15:00 (SA Time).
“We’ve played at Twickenham a few times, and although it’s neutral ground for both teams, we are expecting Argentina to have a good support base as well, so it’s going to be a proper Test match,” said De Allende.
“I wouldn’t say playing in London is easier than playing in Argentina. The travel was easier, of course, and we didn’t have to face the jetlag factor, so it may be neutral territory, but that won’t give any team an advantage.
“That said, we are really looking forward to the match. I think more than 60000 tickets have been sold, so it’s going to be an incredible atmosphere.”
De Allende said: “Argentina will come out fighting. They may not be able to win the competition anymore, but they defeated New Zealand, Australia, and the British & Irish Lions this year already, so we need to stay focused on the task at hand to get the desired result.”
De Allende said that he preferred to focus on the task at hand on Saturday, to hopefully defend their Castle Lager Rugby Championship title., following the announcement of the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw process in Australia by World Rugby earlier on Wednesday.
“The Rugby World Cup is two years away, so we cannot look too far ahead,” said De Allende.
“This week is the most important game of the year for us so far. It is essentially a final for us, so as a team, all our energy will be going to being prepared as well as we can for this match.”