Only way Italians can stop Smith is food poisoning!
Allan’s warning to Azzurri about his Quins team-mate
TOMMY ALLAN has 61 Italy caps and trains up close and personal with Marcus Smith at Harlequins on a daily basis, so he has a unique perspective on England’s Six Nations visit to Rome.
So, how are the Azzurri going to stop Eddie Jones’s new fly-half wonderkid and end their horror winless run in the Championship which is now at 33 straight matches?
‘I don’t know,’ said Allan, before breaking into a smile. ‘Maybe food poisoning?’
In the ancient city of Rome, Jones’s ‘new England’ — with Smith at their epicentre — will look to get their Championship up and running after throwing away victory in Scotland.
It will be fascinating to see how England perform following their Murrayfield implosion — one which came following the controversial substitution of Smith.
‘Marcus will brush that off,’ said Allan, who decided to step away from Italian rugby last autumn to focus on life at Harlequins following his arrival from Benetton.
‘He won’t think about it too much and I’m sure he’ll have had a chat with Eddie about it. Whatever Eddie told him, I’m sure he’ll take it on board and work harder.
‘Marcus demands a lot on the field, but off it, he’s a very good guy. He’s a really great individual — that’s probably his best attribute.
‘He’s an awesome kid and up there with the best players I’ve played with. He has heaps of experience for someone who is still 22.
‘You never know what he’s going to do. He’s so spontaneous he puts the opposition defence in a lot of doubt. I’m sure he’s going to cause havoc this weekend.’
Allan is watching this year’s Six Nations from afar having been a regular for Italy since making his debut in 2013. Still only 28, the versatile back plans on returning to the Test arena — but admits the Azzurri’s long stretch of defeats has been tough to be a part of. Who can blame him?
Italy’s last Six Nations win was a 22-19 victory over Scotland in 2015.
‘I had a conversation with Italy before the November games and said I wanted to focus on Harlequins for this season,’ said Allan.
‘I want to win some silverware. I know I can improve and take my rugby to a different level. Then I can take that into the international side. I’m not closing any doors on Italy.’
Allan’s father is Scottish and his mother is Italian. His uncle, John Allan, played international rugby for both Scotland and South Africa in the 1990s.
‘It’s tough watching Italy now and (coach) Kieran Crowley was a bit disappointed, but I still feel the decision is the best one for my career.
‘We need to get some results. I know there is talk of another team coming into the Six Nations and promotion and relegation and you can see why that is happening because we’re not winning.
‘If relegation was to come in, I’d back Italy a thousand times to win a play-off game.
‘After seven years of losing, Italy still gets 60,000 people turning up. The fans could turn their backs on us, but they don’t. We want to win for them and give them some joy and a reason to get drunk!’
A win is unlikely to come against England, not that it will stop Italy from trying.
In 2017 and with Allan at flyhalf, the Azzurri caused chaos at Twickenham by refusing to commit players to the ruck and running into the English backline to try to claim possession because, under the rules at the time, they were not offside.
‘It was one of a few little tactics we had up our sleeve and it almost worked,’ remembers Allan with a smile.
‘We put some doubt in England’s heads! It caused a lot of controversy, but it was quite cool and will be remembered for a long time.’