About James Allan (rugby union)
James Allan (11 September 1860 - 2 September 1934)) was a New Zealand rugby union player who played eight games for the New Zealand national rugby union team, and was nicknamed the Taieri Giant. Allan played in the first match contested by the New Zealand team, and the New Zealand Rugby Union regard him as the first ever All Black. == Family and early life == Allan's father, also called James, migrated to New Zealand in 1842 and settled at Hope Hill, Taieri. His mother arrived in Dunedin in 1848. They had four sons including James, who was born on 11 September 1860 in East Taieri. He was a pupil of Otago Boys' High School. == Rugby career == Allan played as a forward and played six seasons for his province Otago, from 1881 to 1886. Allan's eight international appearances came on the 1884 New Zealand rugby union tour of New South Wales on which he scored three tries. This being the first New Zealand international team (later known at the All Blacks), and Allan being first in the alphabetical list of the first team to play on tour, he is now recognised as All Black #1. He was one of New Zealand's most valuable players on the tour, where he played eight of the tourists' nine games – all played over 23 days.
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