Fred Allen started his working life in Christchurch as an errand boy for Ballantynes department store, work which sparked his interest in the fashion business. After WW II he set up shop in a pokey storeroom in Auckland, making belts before he began manufacturing women's clothing.
It felt incongruous to go and meet one of the nation's great rugby names at his fashion house where he was cutting orders or dressing mannequins. This was the coach known as Fred the Needle in a crack at his occupation and his cutting tongue on the rugby field.
Allen kept the business going until he was nearly 70 before he retired to his house on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
Bowls, fishing, meeting mates and entertaining filled his days. He would sit in his sun-drenched backroom pulling stories and recollections from his youth.
He told me about the deeds of George Nepia and Johnny Smith and how he'd seen the extraordinary Bert Cooke play, "he was a predator, an assassin and an artist all tied up in one magnetic bundle."
Accounts of Allen's own talents show he was a footballer with fine balance, a sidestep of either foot, a sound strategist and a full range of skills delivered for the Kiwis and then as All Black captain.
That honour did not counter his profound despair when he led the '49 tourists to a series whitewash in South Africa. Allen was left to do much of the coaching and wh4en he was then injured he stood aside from the last two tests.
Allen quit test rugby after that tour and began coaching. His record was shaky until Auckland claimed the Ranfurly Shield in 1959. From there he was promoted to be All Black coach on the momentous tour of Britain and France in '67 before his sudden resignation the next year.
Statistics
Date of birth: 9 February 1920
Position: First five-eighth
Matches: 21
Tests: 6
Test debut: 14 September 1946 v Australia, Dunedin
Last test: 13 August 1949 v South Africa, Johannesburg
Province: Auckland
Test tries: 0
Test points: 0