Much to the sniggers and titters of his teammates and Ellis Park, Damian de Allende, rather bemused himself, accepted the Player of the Match award in the Springboks' recent Nations Championship victory over England gracefully.
Explaining the 45-21 win with a knowing smile on his face, De Allende kept his composure to speak earnestly about the encounter. As it had transpired, the broadcasting team had ushered the wrong Damian — De Allende instead of Willemse — into the on-field interview to accept the honour incorrectly.
There were a handful of raised eyebrows at the kerfuffle, but then many more shrugged their shoulders and accepted the error as arguably justified.
That moment arguably describes De Allende’s career to a tee.
Not always heralded but undeniably invaluable to the cause, De Allende is set to earn his 100th Test cap on Saturday in the first Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at Ellis Park (kick-off 5pm).
De Allende, 34-years old, made his debut for the Springboks in 2014 against Argentina in a Rugby Championship encounter, and since then has been a mainstay in the Green and Gold. This weekend, he will earn his century of international caps when the Boks face the All Blacks. It will be the former Stormers and Munster centre’s 20th appearance against the mighty New Zealanders.
Former Springbok great Steven Kitshoff, who started his career alongside De Allende in the famous blue and white hoops of Western Province, was magnanimous on Thursday when he recalled the career of De Allende.
Speaking at a Springbok Legends breakfast in Pretoria, the "Spicy Plum" hailed De Allende as a stalwart, underrated and "almost a fourth loose forward."
Said Kitshoff: "I remember when I started out in 2011, 2012, myself and Doogz came through the Western Province and Stormers ranks at the same time.
"At that stage, he was still playing Varsity Cup for Ikeys, and since then he has always been such a hard-working, almost fourth loose forward on the field in the way that he carries, the way that he puts his body on the line defensively and the turnovers that he makes. He nearly never has a bad game.
"He rocks up," Kitshoff continued, "he does his work exceptionally well during the week, he knows how to work with each player and he is a team man. From that, he goes out on Saturdays and puts in a helluva performance week-in, week-out.
"I think he is very underrated and not a lot of people give him credit, but a man who plays 100 Test matches is there because he has just done it so many times and done it so well that the coaches just can’t leave him out of the squad. He has been a stalwart for the Boks."
De Allende will line up against the irrepressible Jordie Barrett and Quin Tupaea, alongside regular midfield partner Jesse Kriel for Saturday’s game, but will also be tasked with stifling the attacking intent and flow created by All Blacks flyhalf Ruben Love.
In doing so, he will join an illustrious group of South Africans to breach the 100-cap mark, including Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit, Jean de Villiers, Siya Kolisi, Percy Montgomery and Willie le Roux.
Previously, double World Cup winner De Allende has scored on 11 occasions for the Boks, including twice against the All Blacks. After 99 Tests, he has been on the winning side in 65 of those, drawing twice.
His early career stats in that regard were hampered by playing against arguably one of the best rugby teams to ever play the game — the All Blacks of 2011 to 2018 — and under that regime, he has only beaten that nation on six occasions.
It is a record that De Allende will no doubt want to help correct during the RGR over the next four Tests.
South Africa v New Zealand matchday 23s for Ellis Park
Springboks starting XV: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks). Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.
All Blacks starting XV: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (capt), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot; Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Anton Segner, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Leroy Carter