Munster newcomer Damian De Allende relishing Thomond Park factor

New Munster signing Damian De Allende says he is looking forward to the day when he will be able to perform in front of a Thomond Park audience.

The 2019 World Cup winner signed for the province alongside fellow South African star RG Snyman in January with the next season in mind and before the effect of the coronavirus pandemic had been felt globally.

While the current Guinness Pro14 season will resume for Munster in August with a fixture against rivals Leinster at Aviva Stadium behind closed doors, De Allende, who is recovering from a groin injury, is casting his eye further to a time when crowds will be allowed back at his new team's home venue. 

"To watch the Champions Cup and see games being played at Thomond Park, it just gives me a feeling of the way the fans are at the Stormers in Western Province," he said.

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"I'm sure home games are out of this world in terms of the noise and everything like that. So I'm really looking forward to that first home game and hopefully by the time we get to that first game, the supporters will be allowed to enter the stadium."

In the Autumn, South Africans will mark a year since the Springboks defeated England in the final to win their third Rugby World Cup. 

But for De Allende, the scale of what he and his team-mates achieved has not fully sunk in.

"I don't think it's sunk in yet. I think it will only sink in [when you] give it a few more years or early after I'm done with rugby," he said.

"Because I don't think we realise at the time what we did for our country. It was awesome to win the World Cup and then go to celebrate my brother's wedding as well.

"But I've never seen Cape Town like that before. I think I cried probably five or six times on the bus.

"But it's something I can't really explain. It's just something you have to experience."