England flew out of South Africa last Saturday evening to Heathrow as the rightful champions, the consistency of their potent scrum and manipulative defence helping them to a deserved first title since 2016.
Thirteen months ago, he was suddenly made redundant. London Irish collapsed, leaving the senior academy member at an awkward loose end that was eventually tied up via a trial at Leicester and a subsequent contract offer from them to complement his university studies at Loughborough.
Mark Mapletoft’s side demonstrated their ability to squeeze teams in that last four success, holding the Irish scoreless in the second half to win 31-20 after leading 22-20 at the interval.
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.
Two points up at the break, Mark Mapletoft’s side took a firm grip on the previously frenetic exchanges and the second period became a slow death for the Irish.
The reigning age-grade Six Nations champions completed their Pool C campaign with a gruelling 17-12 win over South Africa last Tuesday at Athlone.
A knock prevented Michelow from togging out for the middle game versus Fiji but he was in the thick against southern hemisphere heavyweight duo Argentina and South Africa, registering a combined total of 42 carries and 35 tackles.
What the wholesale shake-up said about England is that they trust their strength in depth, but also that skipper Finn Carnduff is too invaluable to lose as a leader.
The English were impressive 40-21 comeback winners over Argentina on opening day at the Championship last Saturday and coach Mark Mapletoft has decided to rotate his team for their second outing with skipper Finn Carnduff, Ollie Allan and Oli Spencer the three repeat picks.
Saturday’s opening round of the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship produced a feast of age-grade entertainment. There were some excellent team performances and a clatter of individuals stood out.