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Getting to know: England U20s scrum-half Ollie Allan
By Liam Heagney
It’s been quite the adventure in South Africa for England, the reigning Six Nations champions emerging from a series of adverse in-game situations to reach this Friday’s World Rugby U20 Championship final versus France.
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Ollie Allan wasn’t available to head coach Mark Mapletoft during the European spring. Instead, he was hamstrung and watched the title-clinching victory over the French in Pau from his university digs in Loughborough.
With that pesky leg ailment since healed, Allan has returned to the England squad and been a key component in what has been achieved so far in the Cape Town winter.
Only the scrum-half and skipper Finn Carnduff, his Leicester clubmate, have started all four games against Argentina, Fiji, South Africa and Ireland, a run of selection vindicated by the snazzy fashion he ran in his first-half try against the Irish last Sunday at the DHL Stadium.
Preparing for an age-grade World Cup final is very different compared to what Allan was doing at this exact time a year ago. London Irish had just folded and he was scratching around to see what alternative might materialise. It eventually turned out to be Tigers.
Ahead of the World Cup final, he took a post-lunchtime break from his England preparations to tackle the RugbyPass Q&A, a quickfire 36-question, five-section session where his answers included Ben Youngs, Patrick O’Grady and Bawo:
THE BASICS
Born: February 4, 2004;
Joined England age-grade: First game was at Millfield U18s against Italy;
Club: Leicester;
Height: 6ft;
Weight: 89kg;
Position: Scrum-half;
Boots: Adidas RS15 (Nike Tiempo in recent games);
Gumshield: I’ve a retainer one;
Headgear: No;
School: St John’s in Marlborough.
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RATE YOURSELF (out of 100)
Pace: 92, I back myself;
Passing: 90;
Tackling: 82.
THE PAST
My favourite England player of all time is… I would say Ben Youngs is definitely up there;
Favourite try I have ever scored is… Probably against DMP for Rams when I was on loan last year. It was halfway, a little snipe and then gassed it to the line;
A rugby memory that makes me smile is… Playing for Hungerford, my local grassroots team seniors. Getting a run out there was quite fun a couple of years ago;
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The moment I realised I could make it is… I’d say when I transitioned to scrum-half. That was at London Irish. My coach Patrick O’Grady transitioned me to scrum-half. I sort of started getting more trust from the coaches and felt I was progressing more quickly;
One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is… Trust the process;
My best subject in school was… God, this is bad; PE. I used to do history. I wasn’t very good but I enjoyed it;
The first player who made me fall in love with rugby is… That’s a good question. I don’t really know. I’d say probably watching (Manu) Tuilagi;
Growing up, my position was… I was 10, 15 at Irish before moving to scrum-half. At my Hungerford club I started at 10, then went to centre, back to 10 and then to nine;
The coach who has most impacted my game is… My dad and I would say Patrick O’Grady as well.
Ollie Allan splits the defence to put England in front! ?#WorldRugbyU20s | #ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/9y6sIKh09C
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 14, 2024
THE PRESENT
My best attributes on the field are… My kicking, speed of pass, physicality;
One thing I’m doing to improve my education is… I’m at Loughborough, sports science;
My favourite current England player is… Ben Earl;
My favourite YouTuber is… Beta Squad;
My hardest working teammate is… Finn (Carnduff), the captain;
My most skilful teammate is… I’d say Ben Redshaw is probably up there;
My favourite training drill is… 15-v-15;
My favourite music artist is… This changes every week. I do a lot of Bawo, quite a low key artist.
Delivering under pressure ?
The England U20 Men are into the World Rugby U20 Championship final!#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/XimZYFWi1N
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 14, 2024
THE FUTURE
A player who could go all the way is… Asher (Opoku-Fordjour);
If I could play with anyone, I would like to play with… Anybody? I guess Dan Carter. It would be nice to be paired with him;
I will be happy with my career if I… Continue to make my family proud, if my future kids see me as a role model, someone to look up to;
One thing I want to add to my game is… My sort of, what’s the word, attacking threat around the breakdown;
If I could play in any other country, I would play in… I’d love to play in France;
One person I want to meet is… Anyone in the world? I haven’t really thought about that. Chris Hemsworth;
One trophy I would love to win is… The World Cup.
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