If a hypothetical selection was being made of New Zealand rugby team composed solely of hard men then Jerry Collins would be on most short lists for one of the loose forward positions, ahead perhaps of other legendary “enforcers” like Mark Shaw and Alex Wyllie.

Collins was one of the toughest and most uncompromising forwards to ever play for the All Blacks and his ferocious tackling and intimidating presence made him feared by every opponent. By the time he departed in 2008 he had become something of a folk hero, beyond even his home union, Wellington.

Collins, born in Samoa but coming to New Zealand as a toddler, was a cousin of another Wellingtonian of Samoan extraction, Tana Umaga.

Growing up in Porirua, Collins was quickly marked for rugby fame and from the St Patrick’s College first XV in Wellington he gained selection in national secondary schools (1997/98) and under 19 sides. Even as a teenager he had an imposing build at 1.90m and 110kg.

After playing for the national under 19s (who won the IRB World Junior Championship, with Collins named player of the tournament) and colts in 1999, Collins came into the Wellington representative side in the same season. His precocious talent and natural leadership skills were recognised early and at just 18 he captained his club side, Northern United, in Wellington’s premier competition.

All his career Collins remained loyal to his Porirua-based club and, even when playing for the All Blacks, would frequently appear at club level, occasionally, it might be suspected, without the approval of the national selectors.

Collins’ progress in his first few seasons suffered a couple of major setbacks. In his maiden first class season he suffered a broken leg in an NPC match, which delayed his debut in the Super 12 with the Hurricanes until 2001. Then, having made the All Blacks for the test against Argentina that season when he was still not 21 and going on the end-season tour, Collins again suffered an injury in 2002 which ruled him out of playing in the NPC for Wellington.

A strong Super 12 campaign for the Hurricanes in 2003, however, saw him restored to the All Blacks, though most of the 13 tests he had that year, including six at the World Cup, were as a No 8. It was only in 2004 that he was used more in the position to which he was best suited, blindside flank. Even then it was not until 2005, and especially the series against the Lions, that Collins became an almost automatic first choice in the No 6 jersey. By this time, too, his Wellington and Hurricanes team-mate Rodney So’oialo had become established in the No 8 spot.

A mark of the increasing mana Collins now enjoyed came in 2006 when he was given the captaincy of an admittedly under-strength All Black side for the one-off test against Argentina in Buenos Aires. The All Blacks only won narrowly and, though a proud honour for Collins, his earthy comments immediately afterwards on television probably ensured his appointment would be only a temporary one. However, he did captain the All Blacks again in official tests, the soft pool games at the 2007 World Cup against Portugal and Romania.

Collins was often criticised for being one dimensional in his play and as a blindside flanker he may have lacked some of the finesse of some other champions of this position, such as Ian Kirkpatrick and Alan Whetton. Certainly his try-scoring output, particularly for a loose forward, was never prolific. But through 2006-07 he developed more all round attributes and was never seriously challenged as an All Black front-line selection. Collins’ participation at the 2007 World Cup tournament ended his time in the All Blacks, by which time he had played 50 All Black games, including 48 tests. Injuries and the ever increasing international programme meant that he played only 47 games for Wellington. He made 85 appearances for the Hurricanes, ending his stint with the franchise with a last minute conversion in the 2008 semi-final loss to the Crusaders.

For such an illustrious player his acquisition of major titles was surprisingly meagre. He shared in the two World Cup disappointments of 2003 and 2007, was never in a Wellington team which won the Ranfurly or a Hurricanes side which won the Super 12 or Super 14. His many narrow misses were offset only by playing in the Wellington side which won the 2000 NPC title.

Collins bowed out of New Zealand rugby after a Super 14 season in 2008, in which because of injury he was never quite at his best. But he was still only 27 and his departure seemed premature.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

Jerry Collins

BORN

Tuesday, 4 November 1980 in Apia

AGE

29

PHYSICAL

1.91m, 107kg

POSITION

Loose Forward

LAST SCHOOL

St Pat's (Town)

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

Northern United

PROVINCE

Wellington

RUGBY NICKNAME

JC

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Saturday, 23 June 2001
v Argentina at Christchurch
aged 20 years, 231 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 23 June 2001
v Argentina at Christchurch
aged 20 years, 231 days

LAST TEST

Saturday, 6 October 2007
v France at Cardiff
aged 26 years, 336 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

48 (3 as Captain)

ALL BLACK GAMES

2 (0 as Captain)

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

50 (3 as Captain)

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

25pts (5t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

0pts

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

25pts (5t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

1002

The All Black Games that Collins played.
(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced

Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card

2001

 23 Jun vs Argentina at Christchurch 67-19 (-) 

 13 Nov vs Ireland 'A' at Belfast 43-30  

 20 Nov vs Scotland 'A' at Perth 35-13  

2003

 14 Jun vs England at Wellington 13-15 (+) 

 21 Jun vs Wales at Hamilton 55-3  

 28 Jun vs France at Christchurch 31-23 (-) 

 19 Jul vs South Africa at Pretoria 52-16  

 26 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 50-21  

 9 Aug vs South Africa at Dunedin 19-11  

 16 Aug vs Australia at Auckland 21-17  

 11 Oct vs Italy at Melbourne 70-7 (-) 

 2 Nov vs Wales at Sydney 53-37 (-) 

 8 Nov vs South Africa at Melbourne 29-9  

 15 Nov vs Australia at Sydney 10-22 (-) 

 20 Nov vs France at Sydney 40-13 (-) 

2004

 19 Jun vs England at Auckland 36-12 (+) 

 26 Jun vs Argentina at Hamilton 41-7  

 10 Jul vs Pacific Islanders at Albany 41-26 (+) 

 17 Jul vs Australia at Wellington 16-7 (+) 

 24 Jul vs South Africa at Christchurch 23-21  

 13 Nov vs Italy at Rome 59-10  

 27 Nov vs France at Paris 45-6  

2005

 10 Jun vs Fiji at Albany 91-0  

 25 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Christchurch 21-3 (-) 

 2 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 48-18 (-) 

 9 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Auckland 38-19  

 6 Aug vs South Africa at Capetown 16-22  

 13 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 30-13  

 27 Aug vs South Africa at Dunedin 31-27  

 5 Nov vs Wales at Cardiff 41-3  

 19 Nov vs England at London 23-19  

2006

 24 Jun vs Argentina at Buenos Aires 25-19  (Captain)

 8 Jul vs Australia at Christchurch 32-12  

 29 Jul vs Australia at Brisbane 13-9 (-) 

 19 Aug vs Australia at Auckland 34-27  

 26 Aug vs South Africa at Pretoria 45-26 (+) 

 2 Sep vs South Africa at Rustenberg 20-21  

 11 Nov vs France at Lyon 47-3  

 18 Nov vs France at Paris 23-11  

 25 Nov vs Wales at Cardiff 45-10  

2007

 9 Jun vs France at Wellington 61-10  

 16 Jun vs Canada at Hamilton 64-13  

 23 Jun vs South Africa at Durban 26-21  

 30 Jun vs Australia at Melbourne 15-20  

 14 Jul vs South Africa at Christchurch 33-6 (+) 

 21 Jul vs Australia at Auckland 26-12  

 8 Sep vs Italy at Marseille 76-14  

 15 Sep vs Portugal at Lyon 108-13 (-) (Captain)

 29 Sep vs Romania at Toulouse 85-8  (Captain)

 6 Oct vs France at Cardiff 18-20 (-) 

Points scored for the All Blacks

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs France, 27 Nov 2004

1

-

-

-

5

vs France, 9 Jun 2007

1

-

-

-

5

vs Italy, 8 Sep 2007

2

-

-

-

10

vs Portugal, 15 Sep 2007

1

-

-

-

5

Totals

5

0

0

0

25

Test Record by Nation

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

Argentina

3

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Australia

10

8

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

British & Irish Lions

3

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Canada

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

England

3

2

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

Fiji

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

France

7

6

-

1

2

-

-

-

10

Italy

3

3

-

-

2

-

-

-

10

Pacific Islanders

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Portugal

1

1

-

-

1

-

-

-

5

Romania

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

South Africa

10

8

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

Wales

4

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Totals

48

42

0

6

5

0

0

0

25