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De Allende at No 13 for Boks?

Cape Town - Jan Serfontein and Damian de Allende are likely to be the Springbok centre pairing for the year’s first Test.

With captain and regular inside centre Jean de Villiers ruled out with a knee injury, Frans Steyn was the likely candidate to replace him in the No 12 jersey.

However, according to Die Burger's website, Steyn has a troublesome knee which is a worry to Bok coach Heyneke Meyer.

Meyer said he has been impressed by both Serfontein and De Allende in Super Rugby this season.

Both are more adept at inside centre though, but the coach revealed he'd like to see how De Allende goes in the No 13 jersey.

Meyer pointed to the fact that De Allende had played outside centre at school and he'd like to see a player there a similar mould to Jaque Fourie, who is likely to miss the entire Test season with an ankle injury.

"I'd really like to see him at outside centre because I like a big, strong No 13 like Jaque," said Meyer.

The Boks start their year with a game against the World XV at Newlands on June 7, followed by two Tests against Wales (Durban, June 14 and Nelspruit, June 21) and one against Scotland (Port Elizabeth, June 28).
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