Tom Allen

Standing tall in the Hurricanes' developing tight-five, Tom Allen is a young New Zealand lock who joined the Wellington-based franchise through the provincial pathway. Born on 23 July 2004, he is still in the early phases of a Super Rugby Pacific career, with much of his focus on physical development and lineout craft. At second-row, Allen's most immediate value is set-piece reliability — calling and jumping in the lineout, holding scrum positions, and providing the connecting work between maul and ruck. The Hurricanes' coaches have used the early stretches of his senior involvement to build his minutes carefully, mindful that locks of his age are still filling out into Super Rugby contact loads. Beyond set piece, he is a willing carrier in close, taking short balls off scrum-half and prop to keep the Hurricanes ticking over the gain line. Defensively, his height and reach are an asset in the air, and he has shown an appetite for the dog-work that goes unrewarded on broadcast cuts but matters to forwards coaches. Allen sits within a Hurricanes second-row group balancing senior leadership with the development of younger options, and his progression will be watched closely as the franchise plans for life beyond its current core of established Test-level locks.