All Black pivot Dan Carter is widely regarded as the finest five-eighth playing rugby today. But the New Zealand template pre-Carter for athleticism, fluid place-kicking and ability to exploit a gap was created, not by Grant Fox, Andrew Mehrtens or the mercurial Carlos Spencer, but by a little-known rugby player called Nicky Allen.
Nicky who?
First, some history.
Born in Auckland in 1958, Nicky Allen proved a handy cricket player when growing up, but as a teenager he turned his hand increasingly towards rugby, representing the New Zealand Colts and Auckland in 1978.
Two years later he made his way into the All Blacks, touring Australia and featuring in the final losing test against the Wallabies. Having played little rugby on his return to New Zealand, Allen was included in the short tour late in 1980 to Wales, which was celebrating the centenary of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
As your typical rugby-mad, All Blacks-obsessed teenager, I’d heard bugger all about Allen. The brief footage I’d seen of him on TV had also left me weary and unimpressed – elfin-like, long-ish hair, a bit too posh for my punky/skinhead leanings.
But the All Blacks coach must have seen something, because he was picked to play the final game of the tour – the test against Wales, which was good enough to have won the Five Nations tournament the previous year.
I was understandably nervous for Allen and the All Blacks. Here they were, playing an historically dangerous opposition at a packed Cardiff Arms Park. It was also a centenary year, and player and supporter passions – not to mention expectations – would be fiendishly high.
What unfolded, however, changed the way I thought about five-eighth play and the game of rugby in general.
Wales were literally belted from the first whistle.
In their terrific captain Graham Mourie, Mark “Cowboy” Shaw, Graham Higginson and Hika Reid, the All Blacks had muscular forwards willing to go the biff or run eighty metres to latch onto a pass for a last-minute try.
Behind such a staunch and skilled pack, menacing backs like Stu Wilson, Bernie Fraser and Dave Loveridge were finding holes and placing unbearable strain on a badly tiring Welsh defence, which was only propped up, it seemed, by their ageless fullback J.P.R. Williams and the nuggetty halfback Terry Holmes.
And guess what – pulling the strings and orchestrating much of the carnage was Nicky Allen.
All class and composure, Allen ably directed the team around the field. If he wasn’t running beautiful lines, he was passing sweetly, tackling solidly, even bobbing up for a try (though there was a suspicion he dropped the ball as he was forcing it over the line).
Phwoar! What a performance!
New Zealand’s domination was reflected on the scoreboard, with the All Blacks winning 23-3, four tries to zip. Allen was a bona fide All Black hero.
Inexplicably, Allen then disappeared off my – and New Zealand’s – rugby radar. Having stayed on in the UK after the Welsh tour ended, he injured a knee playing club rugby in England, so was ruled out for all of the 1981 season.
After that, he flitted about in Australia and New Zealand rugby competitions, suffering several injuries that seemed to dull his exceptional rugby-playing gifts.
And then in 1984, seemingly out of nowhere, came the tragic news that he had died from head injuries after being heavily tackled in a club match in Australia.
Allen’s involvement at both representative and international levels was so brief and sporadic that he managed just 35 first-class matches and two Tests for the All Blacks. He was 26 years of age.
Little by little, the news filtered back from Australia. The accumulation of injuries had taken their toll. He was prone to concussion. The tackle was one of those freak events.
Allen’s death marked the end of one of rugby’s most promising careers.
Even today, I’m gutted that the world never saw the best of what was a diamond talent – perhaps a talent even rarer than Dan Carter.
Stephen Townshend is the author of The Last Word – Rugby World Cup 2011
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan says it’s “purely coincidental” that Semipeni Finau has put on a massive, late hit on a fourth fly-half in nine…
He was born 1905, 1904 or 1908 according to various reports, in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, and is remembered as one of the great Māori players.
I don’t really get the comparisons between Joey Manu and Sonny Bill Williams. I realise they have the Roosters in common, along with a…
All Blacks star Jordie Barrett has announced a sabbatical to play with Irish club Leinster at year's end, while committing his future to New…
There are those who will forever play the man - and not the ball - where TJ Perenara is concerned. The All Blacks and…
I well remember the day a New Zealand Rugby staffer put their hands on me. It seems I’d made them angry.The Wellington Sevens was…
