Sir Frederick Richard Allen (9 February 1920 – 28 April 2012) was a captain and coach of the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, New Zealand's national

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 ...

team. The All Blacks won all 14 of the test matches they played under his coaching.

Personal life

Allen was born in

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

, New Zealand. He was educated in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

(though he did not attend secondary school), and played for the Linwood club. After captaining the Canterbury Colts in 1938, he was selected for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 1939. During World War II Allen served as a lieutenant in the 27th and 30th Battalions in the Pacific and Italy. He played for service teams including the 2nd NZEF "Kiwis" Army team that toured Britain following the war.

Career

When he returned to New Zealand he settled in Auckland as a women's clothing manufacturer. He played for Auckland Grammar Old Boys 1946–48, and was selected for the All Blacks in 1946. In 1949 he was selected as captain of the All Blacks for the 1949 tour to South Africa. Although each test match was very close, the All Blacks lost the series 4–0. Allen retired from playing after the series. Allen went on to coach, and was a selector-coach for Auckland during their Ranfurly Shield era of the late 1950s. He became an All Blacks selector, before becoming All Blacks coach in 1966. A fierce but very effective coach, Allen picked up the nickname of "The Needle". The All Blacks' reign under Allen was the team's most successful; they won all 14 of their tests with him as coach. The New Zealand Rugby Football Union awarded Allen the Steinlager Salver in 2002, and in 2005 Allen was inducted into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF accepted ...

Honours

In the 1991 New Year Honours, Allen was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) for services to rugby. In the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

(KNZM), also for services to rugby. Following the death of Morrie McHugh on 25 September 2010, Allen had been the oldest living All Black.

Death

Allen developed

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

and died on 28 April 2012. He had moved into full-time care in

Orewa Orewa () is a settlement in the northern Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is a suburb of the Hibiscus Coast, just north of the base of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula and north of central Auckland. The Auckland Northern Motorway, Northern Motor ...

on the

Hibiscus Coast The Hibiscus Coast is a populated area on a stretch of the Hauraki Gulf coast in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It has a population of making it the List of New Zealand urban areas by population, 10th most populous urban area in New Zealand, ...

, north of Auckland.

All Blacks statistics

Tests: 6 (6 as Captain)
Games: 15 (15 as Captain)
Total Matches: 21 (21 as Captain)
Test Points: 0pts
Game Points: 21pts (7t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)
Total Points: 21pts (7t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

Notes and references

''Fred the Needle: the untold story of Sir Fred Allen'' the authorised biography by Alan Sayers and Les Watkins (2011. Auckland, Hodder Moa)

External links

* * *
rugbymuseum.co.nz profile"Auckland honours NZ All Black great"
newzealand.com, 9 February 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
Death of Fred Allen (Stuff NZ)Sir Fred Allen photo (Stuff NZ)Fred Allen's funeral; video (Stuff NZ)Fred Allen visits Ypres (Stuff NZ)Fred Allen knighted (Stuff NZ)A Picton boy who played with Fred Allen in 1942 (Stuff NZ)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Fred 1920 births 2012 deaths World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand military personnel of World War II Canterbury rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Oamaru New Zealand national rugby union team coaches Deaths from leukemia in New Zealand New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Rugby football people awarded knighthoods New Zealand Army officers New Zealand rugby union players