Jerry Collins (4 November 1980 – 5 June 2015) was a professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. Although he was born in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

, Samoa, he grew up in New Zealand and played for the New Zealand national team, earning 48 caps. At club level, he played for the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

Super Rugby franchise in New Zealand,

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

and Narbonne in the Rugby Pro D2, Ospreys in Wales, and Yamaha Júbilo in Japan. He played as a flanker and number eight, and was considered to be one of the hardest tacklers in the sport. Collins and his partner, Alana Madill, were killed in a car crash in southern France in June 2015.

Early career

Collins was born in the Samoan capital of

, but grew up in

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

on New Zealand's North Island. He made New Zealand Secondary Schools through his performance in the 1st XV side at St. Patrick's in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

for three seasons running in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and was Player of the Tournament at the 1999 World Junior Championships (Under-19) which New Zealand won, before going on to become the first player from that team to be called up to the New Zealand national team (the All Blacks) in 2001.

Professional career

Collins made his

debut in the NPC in 1999, and his Wellington Hurricanes debut in 2001. He made a total of 74 appearances for the Hurricanes between 2001 and 2008, which included an appearance in the 2006 final against the Crusaders at AMI Stadium. After debuting for the All Blacks in 2001, Collins went on to play 48 test matches, scoring five tries. In June 2006, he captained the All Blacks in a one-off Test match against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, where he led his team to a 25–19 victory in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

becoming the 61st captain of the All Blacks. He was named as All Black captain 2007 Rugby World Cup matches against Portugal and Romania, standing in for regular captain

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captain (sports), captained the New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 t ...

. Collins retired from international rugby in May 2008. Shortly afterwards, he played in a rugby league match in the Wellington Competition, registered under a different name. The team was fined. In October 2007, following New Zealand's exit from the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Collins was vacationing in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

when he was spotted by

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

head coach Kevin Squire who invited him to watch the team play a match 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 Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...

. In a match a few weeks later for the Barbarians he wore the

socks. After leaving the Hurricanes, Collins played for

during the 2008–09 season, joining Sonny Bill Williams in the club's aggressive recruitment drive. In May 2009, Collins agreed to a two-year deal to join Welsh team Ospreys. He was Ospreys' Players' Player of the Year in the 09/10 season. He then played for Yamaha Júbilo in the Top League in Japan, whom he joined at the beginning of the 2011 season. He last played for the classic All Blacks against Fiji in 2013, and he took 2014 off. In January 2015, Collins signed a contract as a Medical Joker to play in the French ProD2 with Racing Club Narbonne. He was injury cover for Rocky Elsom.

Personal life

Collins was a cousin of former All Blacks captain and Hurricanes teammate Tana Umaga. In March 2013, Collins was arrested in a

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

department store after he was spotted carrying a -long knife. Friends of his claimed he was carrying it for self-defence after he was threatened. He was tested negative for all illegal substances. A few days after the arrest, Collins said he was "relieved" to have been arrested, as he feared for his life.

Death

Collins and his partner Alana Madill, aged 34, died on the morning of 5 June 2015, after Alana fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of their car and collided with a bus on the A9 autoroute near Béziers in southern France. His three-month-old baby daughter, Ayla, survived, largely due to Collins attempting to take the brunt of the force away from Ayla by enveloping her in his own body, Ayla was then transported to the hospital in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in critical condition. Ayla spent a month recovering in intensive care at the hospital in Montpellier, including two weeks spent in a coma. In early July, it was announced Ayla would move to Canada with the Madill family, and continue receiving treatment at a Canadian hospital. Porirua Park Stadium was officially renamed Jerry Collins Stadium on 25 March 2016 in his honour.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jerry 1980 births New Zealand international rugby union players 2015 deaths Road incident deaths in France New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Apia RC Toulon players People educated at St Patrick's College, Wellington New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan Samoan emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Wales New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France Shizuoka Blue Revs players Wellington rugby union players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Ospreys (rugby union) players Barnstaple RC Narbonne players Victoria University of Wellington alumni Umaga family 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players