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Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett was not impressed by the leadership shown by Damian de Allende when he captained the Stormers against the Reds at Newlands this past weekend.
De Allende only recently returned to full fitness but was forced to lead the Stormers when Frans Malherbe withdrew with illness on Saturday.
After trailing 22-17 in the second half, the Stormers rallied to win 40-22 but Mallett was not overly impressed afterwards.
Mallett said the following on the SuperSport studio:
“This was a very poor game in terms of quality from professional players. The concentration levels were extremely poor. There was a lot of over-confidence in the Stormers camp before the match. But we saw a lot of individual mistakes and lack of concentration and basics skills. The only thing good from a South African perspective, was that the Stormers came out with a win when they were in a difficult position.
“The Stormers were down to their fourth-choice flyhalf, Brandon Thomson, and he actually had a good game when he came on. So, it shows we have the talent here in South Africa. Unfortunately those talents are often just at the major unions.
“I don’t think Damian de Allende has captaincy potential. It was interesting to see once Schalk Burger got on, how he was talking to the team, calmed them down when they wanted to take a quick tap and forced them to take the three points on offer to stretch the Stormers’ lead to more than seven. And just generally how he pulled it together when the score was a little too close for comfort. I just wonder why Nizaam Carr wasn’t made captain for this game instead of De Allende. He has led the team before. It doesn't make sense just to appoint a guy as captain because he is a Springbok but has no leadership skills.”
