David Allen (born 29 April 1981) is a retired

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who spent the majority of his career at Blackheath, where his position was

openside flanker Flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Each team of 15 players includes two flankers, who play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside or openside flankers, numbers 6 and 7 respectively. The name comes from ...

. While at 'Club' Allen become the all-time try scorer in

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

history with 147 tries from 274 appearances. As well as playing for Blackheath he was also capped by

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

and the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

Career

Early career

David Allen was born on the 29 April 1981 in

Hildenborough Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Tonbridge and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Med ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Growing up he attended

Hugh Christie Technology College Hugh Christie School is a secondary school and sixth form based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. In November 2006 the school moved into a new £14 million building. The school currently has a roll of approximately 1000 students. Hugh Christie is p ...

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

, while his youth rugby was spent at nearby

Sevenoaks RFC Sevenoaks Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Sevenoaks, Kent. The club ground is on Plymouth Drive to the east of the town centre. The first XV team currently plays in National League 2 East, having reached the national l ...

, who he joined at six and played for until he was seventeen (colts). In 1998 he decided to leave Sevenoaks to join his father's old team, Old Juddians to start his senior career. Although Old Juddians would merge with Tonbridge RFC the following seasons to form Tonbridge Juddians, Allen would stay at the club for six seasons, playing lower league rugby in the London regional divisions.

2005-08: First seasons at Blackheath

Allen's performances for Tonbridge Juddians came to the attention of south-London side Blackheath, playing fours divisions higher in

National Division 2 National Division 2 is the fourth tier of rugby league in France, below the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The Division is split into 5 regional leagues, East, South 1, South 2, South-East, South-West and West. Cl ...

. Despite his coaches' warnings that he would never make it at a higher level, Allen decided to join Blackheath, signing for the 2004–05 season. He made his competitive debut on 18 September 2004, as the club drew 13–13 with Launceston at the

Rectory Field Rectory Field is a sports ground in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home ground of rugby union team Blackhea ...

. He would go on to play 13 games in his first season, scoring 1 try as Blackheath finished in 9th position. The following season would play out the much same way, Allen becoming a regular in a mid-table Blackheath season that finished once again in 9th place. The 2006–07 season was when Allen would start to come to prominence. Starring for a Blackheath side that would improve to a fifth-place finish in the league, Allen's performances saw him selected by the

and he made his Counties debut on 23 February 2007, starting in a 17–20 loss away to an Irish Club XV in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. A second England Counties cap would follow that year as he scored a try in a 41–10 win over France Amateurs at the Rectory Field on 16 March 2007. Allen's good form would continue for Blackheath the following season, scoring 9 tries as he helped Blackheath to finish fourth in the league. He was also called back to the England Counties side taking part in FIRA/AER Rugby Festival held in France throughout September, and featured in wins against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(76-10) and

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(21-15). A further honour that season was Allen being called up for the

, playing in a 24–27 loss to Combined Services at

Brickfields A brickfield is an open site where bricks are made. Place names are often formed from the word. Brickfield, Brickfields, or Brickfielder may also refer to: Australia * Brickfielder, an arid wind * Brickfield Hill, an area of Sydney * Brickfields ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 14 November 2007.

2009-12: Try scoring prominence

The 2009–10 season would see Allen to start to demonstrate the prolific try scoring form that would characterise his later career at Blackheath. While the previous year had only seen him score 3 league tries all season, he had already eclipsed this figure in his first four games of the new campaign in National League 1 (formerly National 2), including his first ever club hat-trick as his team hammered

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

82–0 at home. Allen's form continued throughout the season, contributing 17 tries from just 21 league appearances, including braces against

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

, Manchester and

Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...

, as Blackheath finished in 8th place. 2010-11 would follow in much the same vein as Allen scored another 17 tries to finish as Blackheath's top try scorer that year - a figure which included early season hat-tricks against

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

and

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

- as Blackheath improved to 6th place. This prolific scoring form saw Allen return to the England Counties fold, gaining his fifth cap on 18 March 2011, as Counties went down 8–16 to an Irish Club XV in Dublin. The 2011–12 season was to be Allen's most prolific of his senior career. While in previous seasons he tended to score in batches, this campaign he was consistent throughout, and would finish as Blackheath's top try scorer (and joint third in the division tied with

Nick Royle Nick Royle (born 1983) is a former England Rugby Sevens International rugby union player. He plays as a winger. He is currently playing 15-aside rugby for Caldy in the RFU Championship. As of 2018 he is the most prolific try scorer in Nati ...

) with 25 tries as Blackheath finished in an impressive third in what was a very competitive National League 1 that featured the likes of

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

and

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...

. Allen's 25 tries featured a hat-trick against

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

along with braces against seven other sides. Unsurprisingly he was also recalled by England Counties, featuring in a 34–16 win over an Irish Club XV at Preston on 16 March 2012. After the successes of 2011-12 Blackheath would struggle in National League 1 dropping down to 10th place. Despite his teams change in fortunes, Allen was still prolific, finishing once more as Blackheath's top try scorer, this time with 19 tries - joint fourth in the division. In February 2013, Allen picked the last of his England Counties caps, appearing in the 20 - 30 loss to an Irish Club XV in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

on the 8th and 27 – 7 win over France Federale in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

on the 22nd.

2013-15: Last seasons with club

Between 2013 and 2015 Allen appeared and scored regularly in a mid-table Blackheath side, finishing as joint second highest scorer at the end of 2013–14 season with 20 tries (2 behind top scorer, Tyson Lewis). The 2015–16 season was to be the penultimate of Allen's career and would be a notable one for Blackheath as it was their last playing at the legendary

having spent the past 158 years there. Blackheath played some good rugby throughout the campaign, at one point looking like they might challenge for the title and promotion to the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

but in the end finished in 3rd spot behind champions

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education The university and college is set in a 360-hectare estate located in Hartpury, near Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England. The ...

. Allen also had a good season, finish as Blackheath's top try scorer with 18 tries and joint 6th overall in the division. It would be his last proper season and although he played 3 games in 2016-17 as Blackheath entered a new era at Well Hall, he decided to call it a day and retire after 13 years at Club.

Season-by-season playing stats

Club

County/representative

Honours and records

Blackheath *

all-time top try scorer: 147 tries England Counties XV *Capped by England Counties XV: 2013

Notes

References

External links

Caldy RUFCCheshire RFU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, David 1981 births Living people Rugby union flankers English rugby union players Blackheath F.C. players Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Kent