Mark "Bull" Allen
| Full name | Mark Richard Allen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 27 July 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Stratford, Taranaki, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 115 kg (18 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Stratford High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Prop | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand No. | 933 | ||
| Provincial / State sides | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1988–96 1997 |
Taranaki Central Vikings |
110 – |
(134) (-) |
| Super Rugby | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1996–98 | Hurricanes | 30 | (25) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1993–97 | New Zealand | 8 | (5) |
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Correct as of 13 February 2007
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Bull Allen (born Mark Richard Allen; July 27, 1967) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer and current TV celebrity, reached iconic status on the New Zealand sports scene in the 1990s. As well as 19 games and 8 test match appearances for New Zealand, Allen played 110 games for Taranaki and was captain of the inaugural Wellington Hurricanes Super 12 team. He was also captain of the first and short-lived Central Vikings team.
Mark Allen was born in Stratford, New Zealand, on 31 July 1967, to Steve Allen and Annette Richards. His father Steve ran an auto-electrical store which had been established by Steve's father Colin in 1945. Allen attended Stratford Primary School and received his secondary education at Stratford High School. He stood out in both wrestling and in rugby, representing the First XV in the latter.
Upon leaving school Allen took up an apprenticeship with his father, and quickly stood out for Stratford in age-grade and club rugby as an exceptionally mobile prop forward. He played his first match for Taranaki in the annual Queens Birthday Weekend fixture in 1988 against Wanganui. Later that season he was selected for the Rugby News New Zealand Youth Team which toured Germany and Scotland and was coached by Fred Allen and Sid Going. It was on this tour that Allen picked up the nickname "Bull", coined by Going's nephew Quentin in reference to a character in the American TV Series Night Court then showing on New Zealand television. It was a nickname that was to stick for the remainder of his career and beyond.
In 1989 Allen secured a permanent place in the Taranaki front row, and in 1990 was awarded Taranaki player of the year after impressing with his strong scrummaging and hard running. He toured Canada with the New Zealand Development Team at the end of the year and just missed out on All Black selection when the All Black front row in France was plagued with injury, losing out to Olo Brown because he couldn't play tighthead prop.
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