Playmaker Allan to maintain Italy absence due to family reasons

Italy playmaker Tommaso Allan said on Monday he will continue his absence from Test rugby due to family reason.

The Azzurri's record points scorer Allan, who plays for French club Perpignam, announced in Februrary he would put his international career on hold to prioritse spending time with his family.

Italy play Argentina, Georgia and New Zealand in November in their next games, having won two matches and drawn another in an impressive Six Nations earlier in the year.

In July they beat Japan and Tonga after defeat to Samoa to cap off a promising start to ex-Argentina fly-half Gonzalo Quesada's tenure as head coach.

"At the moment I'm going to focus on the start of the season with Perpignan, see how things go and then we'll see," the 31-year-old, who can play fly-half and full-back, told AFP.

"I watched Italy closely in the later part of the Six Nations and the summer tour.

"You always want to play internationally but at the moment I'm just going to focus on the start with Perpignan," he added.

Perpignan start their French Top 14 season at Bayonne on Saturday.