Springboks centre Damian de Allende has continued his fine form in the Japan Rugby League One this season, scoring a brace of tries against the Ian Foster and Sir Steve Hansen-led Toyota Verblitz.
De Allende grabbed his second and third try of the season for the Saitama Wild Knights, who continued their unbeaten start to the 2024/25 campaign, claiming a 38-22 victory over Verblitz.
The Robbie Deans-led side now lead the standings after winning five from five and are the only unbeaten team left in the competition.
Damian de Allende dominates
Verblitz threatened early on with ex-All Blacks scrum-half Aaron Smith slicing through the Knights defence and putting in a neat grubber that was covered by the defence at the last second.
Having survived the early scare, the Wild Knights went on the attack and De Allende opened the scoring after he latched onto a stunning out-the-back-door offload by his centre partner Dylan Riley to cross under the posts.
They extended their lead further in the 12th minute as Esei Ha’angana forced his way over from close range with Atsushi Sakate grabbing the Knights’ third try.
Verblitz did find a response before half-time as Isaiah Mapusua cut the lead to 21-5 before the break.
However, De Allende inspired the bite-back in the second half as the Springboks midfielder stepped and bumped his way through traffic from a goal line dropout and was dragged down just a metre short of what would have been an epic solo try. Ben Gunter would finish the score though as he was quickest to the breakdown and picked and went to get the fourth try.
Taichi Takahashi gave Verblitz some hope with his try in the 50th minute but when a failed grubber from Matt McGahan landed perfectly in De Allende’s grasps it was all but over.
The Bok sprinted away and finished off the try in the corner with the conversion giving his side a 38-10 advantage with 15 minutes left to play.
Ex-rugby league and Sydney Roosters star Joseph Manu did grab a consolation try for Verblitz, as did Kaito Shigeno, but it was not enough to claim a losing bonus-point.
The win means that the Wild Knights have claimed their 50th regular season victory, from 53, since League One began four seasons ago and now sit five points clear at the top of the standings ahead of the bye weekend.
The clash also saw Springboks lock Lood de Jager make his return to competitive rugby, enjoying a 20-minute cameo off the bench for the Wild Knights after returning in a friendly match last week.
Meanwhile, Pieter-Steph du Toit missed the game for Verblitz as he is still recovering from the injury he sustained with the Springboks in November last year with Hansen and Foster recruiting former Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper as cover.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/damian-de-allende-dominates-all-blacks-led-verblitz-with-dazzling-double
