A great servant to New Zealand rugby and one of the few people who played for and coached the All Blacks.

Allen could side-step off both feet and was capable of playing at fly-half, centre or wing. He captained the All Blacks in each of his six caps, four of which were won, from 1946-49.

After ending his playing days, Allen took up coaching and led Auckland to the Ranfurly Shield in 1959. He was an All Black selector from 1964-65 and then coached the team between 1966 and 1968, masterminding a series whitewash of the 1966 British and Irish Lions in his first four games in charge. All 15 test matches under him were won.

Known as ‘the Needle’, because of his background in clothes manufacturing, Allen was honoured many times, including in late 2002 when he received a special lifetime achievement award from the NZRFU.