Damian de Allende goes into Saturday's Test at Ellis Park on 99 caps. If Rassie Erasmus names him on Thursday, as almost everyone in South African rugby expects, he becomes the tenth player to appear 100 times for the Springboks — and he will do it opposite Jordie Barrett.
It is a good line to put on a milestone. The two men are routinely described as the best inside centres in world rugby, and the four-Test Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series gives them a month to settle the argument in public.
Victor Matfield does not think the argument is close.
"I know a lot of people say Jordie Barrett is the best 12 in the world," the former Springbok lock said on the SA Rugby magazine podcast. "We'll see after this tour. I think Damian de Allende is the best 12 in the world, and he's been the best 12 in the world for a pretty long time."
Matfield went further, naming de Allende as one of two players he expects to define South Africa's series, alongside a less obvious pick.
"We've got two key players, and it's probably not the two you think I'm going to mention," he said. "I think Jasper Wiese is going to be huge in this tour. The other one is Damian de Allende, just the work rate that he puts in."
His reasoning has less to do with carries than with what de Allende does for the man inside him. With Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu fit again and in the frame at fly-half, Matfield sees the centre as the organising voice.
"Sacha will be back, and he will be keeping him calm in that 10 jersey, helping him with making the right calls and just almost organising the whole attack. So for me, he is the player who is going to come through under pressure."
Two more former Springbok centres took the same subject on and landed somewhere else. On the Boks Office podcast, Jean de Villiers and Robbie Fleck agreed the duel was the series' best subplot but not on who wins it.
"I'm really looking forward to that match-up between Jordie Barrett and Damian that plays 12 for the Boks, whichever Damian it is — we think it will be De Allende," de Villiers said. "I think he's part of the conversation, I don't think it's a straight answer. After this tour, we will be able to say who's the best. I think they are two world-class centres."
Fleck leaned to the New Zealander, and pointed at one specific thing.
"They're both really hard, aggressive centres that carry well and have good skill sets. I think the only dynamic that Jordie's got over Damian is his kicking game, which he's brought through now," Fleck said. "If they use that correctly, it will be something different that they will bring to the table. Right now I think Jordie Barrett is becoming one of the best centres in the world, he's earned that right and I think he would be a tough player to play against right now."
Barrett's boot has already been the difference on this tour — he controlled a waterlogged 54-0 win over the Sharks at Kings Park largely with it.
De Villiers pushed back on the framing itself, arguing the two are asked to do different jobs.
"That's also like saying a centre is better than a prop," he said. "The way that the All Blacks play, the way that they utilise their midfielders to the way that we utilise our midfielders, is totally different, so you're not comparing apples with apples."
Barrett, for his part, has been generous about de Allende before. Speaking ahead of the sides' meeting at Eden Park last year, the New Zealander said: "When I think of him, I use the word balance. He's just such a well-balanced individual, ball carrier, tough, strong defender, just does everything right."
He added then: "He has set the marker as a midfielder, a 12, for a number of years."
De Allende is 34 and, on his hundredth appearance, likely to be paired with Jesse Kriel for the 45th time — already comfortably the most-capped Springbok centre partnership in history. Barrett is 29 and on 81 caps. Both teams are named on Thursday.
