- Jerry Collins
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Jerry Collins Date of birth 4 November 1980 Place of birth Apia, Western Samoa Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Weight 108 kg (17 st 0 lb) School St Pat's Town; (Previously Tawa College) University Victoria University Notable relative(s) Tana Umaga Mike Umaga (cousins) Occupation(s) Professional rugby player. Rugby union career Playing career Position Flanker, Number eight New Zealand No. 1002 Professional / senior clubs Years Club / team Caps (points) 2008–09
2009–11Toulon
Ospreys22 (20) Provincial/State sides Years Club / team Caps (points) 1999–2007 Wellington 47 (55) correct as of 2007-06-08. Super Rugby Years Club / team Caps (points) 2001–2008 Hurricanes 74 (27) correct as of 2010-03-01. National team(s) Years Club / team Caps (points) 2001–2007 New Zealand 48 (25) correct as of 2008-25-03. Jerry Collins (born 4 November 1980 in Apia, Samoa) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer who formerly played for the national team, the All Blacks in which he was capped 48 times.[1][2] He now plays for Yamaha Jubilo, in Japanese Top league rugby.
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Early career
Collins made New Zealand Secondary Schools through his performance in the 1st XV side at St. Patrick's in Wellington for two seasons running in 1997 and 1998 and was Player of the Tournament at the 1999 World Junior Championships (Under-19) which New Zealand won, becoming the first player for that team to be called up to the All Blacks.
Professional career and the All Blacks
Since debuting for the All Blacks in 2001, Collins has gone on to play 46 test matches, scoring four tries.
He was named as All Black captain in world cup matches against Portugal and Romania played in Lyon and Toulouse respectively, once again standing in for regular captain Richie McCaw. Collins is known for his hard hits throughout his rugby career and his physical strength earned him a number of nicknames.
In June 2006, he captained the All Blacks in a one-off Test match against Argentina, where he led his team to a 25–19 victory in Buenos Aires becoming the 61st captain of the All Blacks.
In October 2007, following New Zealand's exit from the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Collins was vacationing in Devon when he was spotted by Barnstaple Rugby Football Club's head coach Kevin Squire who invited him to watch it play at the weekend. Much to the club's surprise Collins turned up so they asked if he minded running a coaching session with the junior section. After doing this Kevin Squire thanked Collins and asked if there was anything they could do to repay him, to which Collins replied he just wanted to play rugby. So the following Saturday Collins turned out for the club's 2nd XV match against local side Newton Abbot. In a match a few weeks later for the Barbarians he wore the Barnstaple socks.
He played rugby league in the Wellington Competition and he registered as a different name in result the team was fined.
Collins retired from the All Blacks in May 2008.
In May 2009, Collins agreed a two year deal to join Welsh Region team Ospreys, scoring a try on his league debut against Irish team Connacht Rugby.[citation needed] While playing against Ulster he made one of his hard hits while running with the ball and colliding with Ulster player Dan Tuohy and resulting with Dan being knocked out. He also captained the Ospreys against Munster which they won, taking over from Paul James as the club's co-captain. He was Ospreys' Players' Player of the Year in the 09/10 season. He is currently in the 2011-2012 Yamaha Júbilo squad playing in the Top League in Japan.
Other
- Cousin of former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga
- Captained the All Blacks for the first time against Argentina in Buenos Aires in June 2006.
- Scored two tries against Italy in New Zealand’s opening match of the RWC 2007.
References
- ^ "Collins ends New Zealand career". BBC. 26 May 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7419984.stm. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
- ^ "Nine new caps in All Blacks squad". BBC. 27 May 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7420945.stm. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
External links
- Jerry Collins at AllBlacks.com
- Jerry Collins at The Official Hurricanes Website
- A few Jerry Collins video clips at Rugbydump.com video website
New Zealand squad – 2007 Rugby World Cup Forwards Backs Coach New Zealand squad – 2006 Tri Nations Forwards Backs Coach New Zealand squad – 2003 Rugby World Cup Third Place Forwards Backs Coach Ospreys squad Forwards Backs Coach Categories:- 1980 births
- New Zealand international rugby union players
- Living people
- New Zealand rugby union players
- Rugby union flankers
- Rugby union number eights
- New Zealand people of Samoan descent
- Barbarian F.C. players
- People from Tuamasaga
- RC Toulonnais players
- Former students of St. Patrick's College, Wellington
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