THE Springboks expect a desperate Ireland team to throw caution to the wind and play an adventurous game to try and salvage the series with a win at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
The centre partnership of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel curbed Irish intentions at Loftus Versfeld last weekend when they venomously cut down the Irish playmakers opposite them, Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw.
The rush defence of the Bok blockbusters in midfield disrupted the Irish game and De Allende believes they will draw up another plan for the return match.
“They are going to come out firing and they are going to try a few more things,” De Allende said.
“They will be more expansive because we stopped them at source in Pretoria. They will throw the ball around a bit because they are desperate to win in South Africa like they did in 2016.
“But we are just as desperate for another win,” he added.
“A series win over Ireland will give us a lot of confidence ahead of Portugal next week, and the Rugby Championship.”
On Saturday, De Allende and Kriel will play their 30th Test as a centre partnership and this will nudge them past the record of Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie. But De Allende says they will keep the champagne on ice until after the game.
“It is a very cool achievement,” the 32-year-old said.
“I met Jesse in 2014 when I first made the Boks and he was already training with them. It is a great achievement to go past guys like Jean and Jaque because, in their prime, they were the two best centres in the world.
“I like the achievement, but I am not focused on it — the job has to be done on Saturday and if we win, Jesse and I will have our celebration.”
De Allende was asked what he enjoyed about playing with Kriel, who is in the best form of his life.
“Jesse is a lot faster than me, he can get on his bicycle a bit! But seriously, he is excellent on defence and in reading the game, and he makes tough decisions in pressure situations,” said De Allende, who will earn his 81st cap this weekend.
“Jesse’s decision-making on defence at Loftus last week was incredible,” De Allende added.
“He put the Irish players under a lot of pressure, you could see that on the field. He made some brave calls to shut them down and that is why I think they will come up with a different game plan this Saturday.
“It was amazing to play with Jesse in that kind of form.”
Earlier this week, Bok attack coach Tony Brown described De Allende as the best passer of the ball in the SA squad.
This might come as a surprise to many Bok fans because De Allende is often used as a bulldozer rather than a flamboyant playmaker, but that doesn’t mean he has not got the skills, and Brown said he is going to use De Allende differently going forward.
“I am enjoying Tony’s coaching,” De Alllende said.
“I have always wanted to pass a bit more, but I have also known that I have been given a role to suit the team, which is more important.
“The biggest thing about playing centre is knowing when to pass and when to keep the ball,” he explained before adding that playing club rugby in Japan has helped him unlock his creativity.
“I have been working on this a lot in Japan, where I am asked to move the ball around a lot more.
“I like that because it gives my body a bit of a break during games. It is about finding the balance, but yes, it is nice to have the ball in my hands more and have the chance to create space for the guys on the outside.
“Ultimately, though, I just love to play rugby and if I am needed to crash the ball up or move into the wider channels, I will do it to help give my team the best chance of winning the game.”