Maisy Allen steps out of 'comfort zone' with short-term move

Exeter Chiefs vice-captain Maisy Allen will join Canterbury for the upcoming Farah Palmer Cup campaign in New Zealand.

The flanker – who won the last of her five caps for the Red Roses against the Black Ferns at WXV 1 in 2023 – will return to her JAECOO Premiership Women’s Rugby club for the start of the English league season in November.

Canterbury, who were runners-up last year, start their season against the Auckland Storm in a fortnight’s time.

She made 17 league appearances as Chiefs returned to the play-offs at the first time of asking. Across her 1231 match minutes, Allen scored 10 tries, carried the ball 153 times for 545 metres, beat 29 defenders, completed 249 tackles and won 15 turnovers.

The 23-year-old’s form in PWR earned her a recall to John Mitchell’s Red Roses squad. Although she did not gain any further international appearances at the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to head to New Zealand and experience a new environment that will take me out of my comfort zone,” Allen told Exeter Chiefs’ website.

“I’ll get to be part of a different style of play, learn from new teams, teammates, coaches and a new club, while also experiencing a different culture.

“I’m looking forward to growing as both a player and a person, exploring another side of the world, and bringing back what I learn to put into the season with Chiefs when I get back.”

It has been a busy couple of months at Sandy Park already. The club are now under the ownership of American group Black Knight Rugby, while head coach Steve Salvin has left the club for a full-time position with Sean Lynn’s Wales as their forwards coach. Former Leicester Tigers head coach Ross Bundy has joined the club as an assistant coach.

Allen will play in a Farah Palmer Cup competition that has been much-heralded for consistently incubating Black Ferns talent. Named after New Zealand great Dame Farah Palmer, the Premiership will be defended by Waikato over the coming weeks.

Oli Bishop, Exeter Chiefs Women’s assistant coach, said: “I’m a huge believer in giving players opportunities to develop and grow, to experience new things.

“I believe it’ll give Maisy another view on rugby and it should help to develop her tactical and technical game. It’ll also give her the opportunity to see how other culture and countries play on pitch but also how they person off pitch.

“This is a great life experience for her, and we wish her all the best during her time over there. The hope is that she will come back a more developed player and with a broader mind of the game, which is going to help us in our PWR quest this season.”