John Aubrey Allen (born 19 July 1974) is an Australian teacher, rugby player and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Allen was born in

Windsor, New South Wales Windsor is a historic town north-west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the council seat of the Hawkesbury local government area. The town sits on the Hawkesbury River, enveloped by farmland and Australian bush. Many of the oldest sur ...

. He attended

Bede Polding College Bede Polding College is an independent Roman Catholic co-educational secondary day school, located in South Windsor, on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school delivers a religious and secular education t ...

in South Windsor, before graduating with a BA in human movement studies at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

, where he also completed his Diploma of Education. He played rugby for several clubs, most notably for the Brumbies who he represented in the Ricoh Championship. He also played

Grade cricket Grade cricket, also known as Premier Cricket is the name of the senior inter-club or district cricket competitions in each of the Australian states and territories. The term may refer to: *Victorian Premier Cricket * NSW Premier Cricket *Queensl ...

for

Hawkesbury Cricket Club Hawkesbury Cricket Club is a cricket club based in the City of Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia. Nicknamed the Hawks. Inaugurated in 1985. Their home grounds of Owen Earle Oval and Bensons Lane Complex, which includes all 3 grade grounds, a ...

near Sydney. At 21, he moved to England to study for his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

. While at Oxford, Allen was awarded his

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

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 ...

and cricket. Allen played 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 ...

in rugby union and as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in rugby league. He captained

Oxford University RFC The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham. History Men's team ...

in 2003, leading the team to a draw in The Varsity Match against

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in December that year. Earlier in the year, he scored a try late in the game to seal Oxford's victory in the

Rugby League Varsity Match The Rugby League Varsity Match is an annual rugby league match between Cambridge University and Oxford University. The first Varsity match took place on Sunday 26 April 1981 at Craven Cottage. Past winners See also * Student Rugby Leagu ...

at the Athletic Ground, Richmond. For Oxford University Cricket Club, he played in two first-class matches, including the varsity match. After completing his master's, Allen returned to teaching in Australia and in 2017 was working as Director of Sport and Co-Curricular at Trinity Grammar School in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, John 1974 births Living people Rugby league players from Windsor, New South Wales Australian cricketers Oxford University cricketers Alumni of University College, Oxford Oxford MCCU cricketers Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Oxford University RFC players ACT Brumbies players University of Technology Sydney alumni Australian schoolteachers