Anthony Allen (born 1 September 1986) is a former international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and coach. He played for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

club

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

91 times between 2005 and 2009 then 126 times for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

before his retirement due to injury in 2015. He was a Premiership champion in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

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, where he was named ''man of the match'' in the final. After his playing career he had a spell as

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

's defence coach.

Early life

Born in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, in his early life, he played rugby for the Trojans Rugby Club at Stoneham Lane,

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. In 1999, Allen toured

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

with the South England Schools side, beating Natal 22–20. In the middle of the tour Allen was hospitalised with food poisoning, missing the end of the Tour. In 2000 Allen Won the Hampshire Cup with the Trojans Under-13 side, whilst attending Boundary Oak School at Roche Court, just outside Fareham. From there he moved on to Clayesmore School at the age of 13, where he was a member of Devine House. He was a member of the Clayesmore 1st XVs from year 10, effectively playing three years above his age group.

Gloucester career

2005–06

In 2005, Allen joined

straight from

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding scho ...

. At the start of the season, Allen helped Gloucester to triumph in the Middlesex 7s with some fantastic tries. He made his first team debut in Gloucester's Anglo Welsh Cup match against

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, which Gloucester won 34–6. Allen scored his first try for Gloucester in their 106–3 demolition of Bucuresti. His first

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

try came 2 weeks later against

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

at Welford Road. A glorious try against Worcester Warriors helped Gloucester to the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

Final. During his first season with Gloucester, Allen summed up his tremendous talent with a glorious brace of tries against London Wasps. He also played an important role in the defeat of

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

in the European Challenge Cup Final.

2006–07

After a great start to the season

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

came calling for Allen. His performance against

Agen The communes of France, commune of Agen (, ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. ...

at Kingsholm, where he scored two tries in defeat, was a catalyst for his call up. On 28 November 2006, Allen signed a two-year extension to his contract. He came back from national duty and continued his great form for

with 3 tries in 3 games in December. Allen finished the season with 9 tries including one in Gloucester's semi-final victory against

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

. He was also voted the young player of the season by Gloucester's fans. Unfortunately for Allen and Gloucester they suffered defeat at the hands of

in the

final.

2007–08

Allen started the season fantastically with two tries in the opening 2 weeks against

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

and

. Tries against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

and

Bourgoin Bourgoin-Jallieu (; frp, Brégon) is a commune in the Isère department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The city had 28,834 inhabitants in 2019 and lies 35 kilometres east-southeast of Lyon. It was formed by the merger of th ...

in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

helped Gloucester to the quarter-finals. Allen was one of the key players for

starting 29 games, more than anybody else in the squad. As well as Allen's obvious talent for breaking tackles and scoring tries his immense tackling plays a vital role to the team.

2008–09

Allen, in his fourth season playing for

, firmly established himself as first choice inside centre alongside

Mike Tindall Michael James Tindall, (born 18 October 1978) is an English former rugby union player. Tindall played outside centre for Bath and Gloucester, and won 75 caps for England between 2000 and 2011. He was a member of the England squad which won ...

at outside centre. The arrival of Olly Barkley from

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

presented a higher level of competition for Allen than in previous seasons. On the opening day of the season, Allen suffered an injury against

which kept him out for 2 months. He returned in November against

and his try in this game helped Gloucester to a win at Vicarage Road. Gloucester ended the season disappointingly and Allen moved to Leicester for the 2009/10 season.

Leicester career

2009–10

In his first season at

, Allen was faced with breaking into a first-choice centre pairing of

Aaron Mauger Aaron Joseph Douglas Mauger (last name pronounced "Major"; born 29 November 1980) is a New Zealand professional rugby union coach and former player. He played at centre for Leicester Tigers. Playing career Born in Christchurch, Mauger played fi ...

and

Dan Hipkiss Daniel James Hipkiss (born 4 June 1982) is a retired rugby union player who won 13 caps for between 2007–10, including the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final. Hipkiss played 130 times for Leicester Tigers between 2001–11 before moving to B ...

. However, his ability to cover both positions and a series of injuries to his rivals allowed him to quickly establish himself in the side. Before long, he was a first-choice centre and he marked his debut season at the club with the first major trophy of his career as Leicester won the Guinness Premiership final against Saracens. He finished the season with six tries in 28 games in all competitions.

2010–11

His second season saw Allen as Leicester's first-choice inside centre alongside the teenage Manu Tuilagi. Allen put in a series of solid performances—both in attack and defence—that earned no international recognition, but saw him named as the Player's Player of the Season and scorer of Try of the Season for his solo score against Bath.

2012–13

Allen won his second Premiership title when playing in the final as Leicester defeated Northampton.

England

He made his

debut against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 5 November 2006, partnering Newcastle Falcons'

Jamie Noon Jamie Darren Noon (born 9 May 1979 in Goole) is a retired rugby union footballer who played at centre. Career Hard-running centre Noon joined the Newcastle Falcons for the 1998-99 Allied Dunbar Premiership, after a letter from one of his sch ...

in the centre. Allen received multiple stitches in his mouth halfway through that first half after being hit in the face by his New Zealand opposite number, but Allen was dropped after they lost 25–18 to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was an integral part of the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

sides that won the Churchill Cup in Canada / USA 2008 and again in 2010.

Coaching career

All was appointed defence coach at Championship club

in 2019, before relinquishing the role in November 2020 to pursue interests away from rugby.

References

External links

Leicester Tigers profileGloucester Rugby profileEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Anthony 1986 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Leicester Tigers players People educated at Clayesmore School People educated at Millfield Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Southampton